RFE/RL NEWSLINE
Vol. 1, No. 18, 24 April 1997

SLOVAK OPPOSITION DENOUNCES SUSPENSION OF
REFERENDUM. Slovak opposition leaders say the
government's 22 April decision to suspend a referendum on
direct presidential elections is illegal, RFE/RL's Slovak service
reports. The government wants the Constitutional Court to
rule whether the constitution can be changed by a plebiscite.
Democratic Union deputy chairman Ludovit Cernak, Christian
Democratic Movement deputy chairman Ivan Simkom, and
ethnic Hungarian leader Bela Bugar told journalists that the
opposition will take countermeasures if the government blocks
the referendum. Premier Vladimir Meciar said on Slovak TV
yesterday that the constitution can be changed only by the
parliament, not by a referendum. He also said he would not
advise Slovaks how to vote in the referendum on NATO
membership.

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