The Czech Republic is expected to hold a referendum in 2006 to decide whether it should ratify the proposed Constitution of the European Union.
While the opposition has argued for the vote to be brought forward to late 2005, it may take place alongside parliamentary elections in 2006, making the Czech Republic among the last countries to hold a referendum on the Constitution. Commentators have suggested that the reason for this is that by the time of the Czech referendum most countries are expected to have approved the Constitution, and Czech voters will follow their lead. The three parties of the governing coalition are strongly in favour of European integration, and will campaign in support of the Constitution, but President Václav Klaus is an outspoken eurosceptic, and refused to sign the constitutional treaty in October 2004 (most countries, however, did not send their head of state to sign). As in many if not most member states, apathy surrounds the Constitution in the Czech Republic, and most are unfamiliar with its contents. The referendum is expected to be legally binding on the government.
Referendum bill
On March 9, 2005, the Czech government approved a bill that would permit referenda to be called on fundamental issues relating to the country's internal and foreign policy, and be called by any of the following:
- A petition containing atleast half a million signatures of Czech citizens.
- Two thirds of the members in either chamber of the bicameral Czech parliament.
- The government itself.
It is as yet uncertain whether the bill will pass. The opposition Civic Democratic Party has objected to the idea of referenda becoming a usual part of the Czech political system, and has instead motioned its own bill on a one-off referendum on the European Constitution.
If both bills fail to gather enough support, then it's quite possible that no referendum will be held and the matter of the ratification will be decided by the Czech parliament instead.
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