Off the wire
• Macedonian gov't to invest in regional development projects  • Britain to grant spies more access to citizens' internet history  • Spanish stock market rises 0.08 pct, closes at 10,473 points  • Khartoum slams U.S. for renewing sanctions on Sudan  • Volkswagen crisis not to affect Spain's industry: car manufacturer  • IFM downgrades Rwanda's 2016 growth prospects to 6 pct  • NASA to recruit astronauts for Mars trip preparation  • Bahrain arrests 47 terror suspects, says backed by Iran  • Jordan rejects any change to status quo in Al Aqsa Mosque  • Belarus to redominate currency in 2016  
You are here: 　 Home

Slovenia bans referendum initiative to block legislation giving police powers to army

Xinhua, November 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

Slovenia's National Assembly decided at its Thursday session in a 71:6 vote to ban a referendum on legislative changes giving the army limited police powers to help police patrol the border during the ongoing refugee crisis.

This effectively stops the collecting of the necessary 40,000 signatures in support of the referendum, according to Slovenian Press Agency.

Deputies made their decision based on a constitutional provision which prohibits votes on laws entailing urgent measures in defense of the country and security.

The implementation of the changes giving the army limited police powers was put on hold after the Ljubljana-based alternative radio station Radio Student submitted a bid for a referendum against the changes last week backed by about 3,000 voter signatures.

It then started collecting the 40,000 voter signatures required to call a referendum. This endeavour has now been halted.

The enforcement of the changes could also be stopped with a potential constitutional review of the referendum ban, the STA report said. Endit