National Election Committee approves three of seven referendum questions

The OVB approved the following referendum questions:

"Do you agree that healthcare institutions and hospitals should remain under state or municipal ownership?"

"Do you agree that drugs should only be sold at pharmacies as they have been in the past?" and

"Do you agree that family farmers should have the right of preemption when purchasing farmland under the regulations in force from June 15, 2005 under Act LV/1994?"

The OVB rejected the following referendum questions:

"Do you agree that students in the state-subsidized higher education system should not have to pay tuition fees?"

"Do you agree that no visit fee should be charged for primary healthcare, dental services and specialist outpatient care?"

"Do you agree that pensioners should be allowed to work under the regulations in effect on October 23, 2006?" and

"Do you agree that parliament should pass legislation to regulate-in addition to disciplinary and compensation liability, the special objective responsibility of the prime minister and members of the government for budget overshoots?"

In comments to MTI following the OVB's Tuesday-evening session, Fidesz parliamentary representative Zsolt Nyitrai said that the opposition parties would appeal the rejection of the four referendum questions to the Constitutional Court. Fidesz and KDNP submitted the proposed referendum questions to the OVB on October 24. The parties will need to collect 200,000 signatures for each approved question to hold a binding referendum. (Mti-Eco)