Election Committee rejects Socialists' referendum initiative

Socialist leader Attila Mesterhazy announced the initiative at a party congress on June 18. He insisted that the government majority had repeatedly passed laws which restrict acquired rights, such as cutting severance payments or early retirement pensions.

Lukacs said after the OVB decision that the Socialists had submitted the proposal to ban the application of disadvantageous measures resulting from laws introduced with a retroactive effect. The OVB, however, stated that the word "disadvantageous" was vague in this context and also referred to the Hungarian constitution which had recently been amended, he added.

The Socialists maintain that introducing laws with a retroactive effect undermines due process and is unacceptable in a democratic state governed by the rule of law, Lukacs said. The party will appeal the OVB decision at the Constitutional Court, he added.