Act onthe construction, management and governance of theDivača-Kopersecond rail track will be held on the 13th of May, announced the National Electoral Commission. Holding the referendum on the same day with the upcoming parliamentary elections is no longer a possibility. The government has not decided yet if it will take part in the referendum campaign.
The National Electoral Commission also voted against a proposal from one its members, Drago Zadergal, for the repeat referendum to be held on the 27th of May. Mr. Zadergal favoured the idea as it would have theoretically allowed citizens to vote on both the snap elections and referendum on the same day. However, the commission voted for the repeat referendum to be held on the 13th of May.
The National Electoral Commission also decided today that work on preparing the referendum will start on the 3rd of April, with all the details to be finalized at Thursday's session. That means that a new referendum campaign will start in two weeks, when those supporting and opposing the Act on the second track will be able to convince voters on the advantages or weaknesses of the government project.
The Ministry of Infrastructure and the government have not decided yet on whether to take part in the referendum campaign. "We believe that citizens will once again support our decision at the repeat referendum, as it was already backed in the first referendum," informed the relevant ministry, which will respect the decision on the date of the referendum.
The newly voted referendum date did anger the initiator of the referendum, Vili Kovačič, who also attended the session of the National Electoral Commission. He announced that he would challenge the decision at the Constitutional Court, and said he has not yet decided on whether he would take part in the referendum campaign. At the session, Kovačič said he has been publicly accused of being guilty that six million euros of taxpayers' money would be spent for the two referendums, because of which he is also receiving death threats. "In such an atmosphere the referendum is dangerous for me," he stressed, adding that he would ask for police protection.