Referendum

Greeks have revised their view regarding technocratic governments, according to a Pew Institute poll of 24 nations for 2023, which found that support for expert cabinet members in Greece climbed by 25% in the last five years.

At the same time, citizens want more women, young people, and religious people in politics, as they have lost faith in the current political leadership.

After seven months of deliberation, the Constitutional Court is set to announce its decision on the rejection of a referendum proposal aimed at limiting the introduction of the euro before 2043.

"Bulgaria has had a history of low deficit, low debt to GDP. So that part of the system has worked very well. We can say that the monetary and fiscal situation has worked well since July 1997, when we installed the currency board in Bulgaria. So, it's a big success. Now, the failure side was obvious to me when I was an advisor to President Stoyanov in 1997. And that is corruption.

Interior Minister Niki Kerameus introduced an amendment to the postal voting bill in parliament on Monday proposing the adoption of postal voting for Greeks living abroad in both European and national elections.  

The announcement was made during the parliamentary debate on the legislation related to postal voting in European elections and referenda. 

With the countdown to the submission of the government's bill on same-sex marriage having already begun, Kathimerini understands that of ruling New Democracy's 158 lawmakers, 94 are already moving toward voting in favor, 22 against, while nine expect that they will abstain.

Interior Minister Niki Kerameos and Deputy Minister Theodoris Livanios gave further details at a press conference on Thursday on the introduction of postal voting to the European elections.

The minister clarified that the postal voting bill does not currently concern the general elections, but only European elections and referenda.

In a decisive move, Bulgarian deputies have rejected proposals to lower the threshold for holding referendums in the country. The National Assembly, in a session today, dismissed the draft law on amendments to the Law on Direct Participation of Citizens in State Power and Local Self-Government, as put forth by the party "There Is Such A People" (TISP).

Over 470,000 are the legitimate signatures for holding a referendum on whether Bulgaria should adopt the single European currency in 2025. This was shown by the check of over 600,000 signatures submitted by the "Vazrazhdane" (Revival) party, made by Main Directorate "Civil Registration and Administrative Service".

The work carried out by the presidency to shape the government's work on the new constitution promises regulations such as allowing the public to participate in the legislative processes with a certain number of signatures.

French President Emmanuel Macron's highly unpopular pension law passed another hurdle after the Constitutional Council rejected the opposition's second proposal to hold a referendum to limit the retirement age to 62, Reuters reported.

Macron has defied fierce union opposition and weeks of sometimes violent protests against his plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.