Lower House approves referendum bill that will most likely be blocked by Civic Democrat Senators

The lower house has also approved a bill enabling referendums to be held on a range of issues including the EU constitution. The bill that amends the constitution states the president must call a referendum if it is requested by the government, a group of at least 80 of the 200 lower house deputies, or 33 of the 88 senators, or by a petition backed by at least 300,000 citizens. The right-of-centre opposition Civic Democrats voted against the bill in the lower house and will most likely block it in the upper house (Senate), where they hold enough seats to reject new constitutional laws and amendments.