Elections

Parliamentary speaker Evangelos Meimarakis and the House’s deputy speakers are due to meet at 2.30 p.m. to decide whether MPs should debate and vote on a referendum on the privatisation of the Public Power Corporation (PPC).

Parliament narrowly approved on Wednesday the sale of 30 percent of PPC but immediately afterwards opposition parties submitted proposals for a referendum.

By Angelos Stangos

Fifteen independent MPs on Tuesday backed a proposal by leftist SYRIZA for Parliament to launch a debate on a referendum on the government’s plans to part-privatize the Public Power Corporation (PPC) as government spokesperson Sofia Voultepsi insisted that separate proposals by opposition parties should not count as one.

A strike by Public Power Corporation (PPC) workers was called off on Sunday night, with attention now shifting to the parliamentary vote on legislation allowing the electricity monopoly to be privatized.

The authorities confirmed that a petition for a referendum to end official use of Serbian Cyrillic script in parts of Croatia has over 526,000 signatures – enough to trigger a vote.

Independent Greeks have thrown their weight behind SYRIZA's proposal for a referendum on privatizing part of Public Power Corporation (PPC).

In a statement Thursday, the country's right-wing anti-bailout party said leader Panos Kammenos had called leftist opposition leader Alexis Tsipras to declare his support for the move.

Lawmakers in Bulgarian Parliament rejected a referendum proposal which allows citizens to decide on the introduction of a majority system, mandatory voting, and e-voting.

Senate Speaker Calin Popescu-Tariceanu said on Tuesday he deeply regrets the fact that over the past few years "we had to witness an attempt to disband the Senate."

Bulgaria's Parliament will hold an extraordinary sitting on a proposal for a referendum on election rules on Tuesday.

Parliament Speaker Mihail Mikov scheduled the extraordinary sitting for Tuesday at 2 pm.

The referendum proposal was initiated by Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev and was backed by an initiative committee.

Bulgaria's Parliament is to convene on Tuesday, with a proposal to hold a referendum on voting rules set a single issue on the agenda.

Lawmakers were initially poised to discuss on Thursday a referendum petition allowing citizens to have their say on majority elections system, mandatory voting, and e-voting, but lack of quorum hindered the session.