The call of the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections to the initiators of the constitutional referendum on amending article 78 of the Constitution

The Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections notes that the will of the people constitutes the basis of state power, which is expressed through free and fair elections, including the referendum as an integral part of this process. The stability of the law is an important element of the credibility of the electoral process and essential for the consolidation of democracy.

In the light of the foregoing, the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections calls upon the initiators of the referendum to take account of the following general principles supported and promoted by the Coalition:

1. The stability of the law is an important element of the credibility of the electoral process and essential for the consolidation of democracy, thus the current Parliament of the 19th legislature  shall work within the limits of the constitutional norms which were in force at the time of validation of the election results of November 28, 2010;
2. Consultation of the people is a democratic exercise and the initiative on amending art. 78 of the Constitution, in order to avoid blockage of the President election in the future legislature is welcome;
3. The process of the election of the Head of State which was started in autumn 2011 by the 19th legislature, shall be suspended for the period of the organization and conduct of the constitutional referendum, with compulsory indication of the clear and exact term of the continuation of the President election process;
4. Regardless of the outcome of the constitutional referendum on the amendment of art. 78 of the Constitution, it can have legal value only for a new composition of the Parliament, i.e. starting with the 20th legislature (taking into account art.  63 to 67 of the Code of good practice in electoral matters and explanatory report, adopted by the European Commission for democracy through law (Venice Commission) within the framework of the 52nd Plenary Session (Venice, 18-19 October 2002);
5. Within reasonable timeframe not exceeding one month from the validation of the results of the constitutional referendum, the Parliament of the current legislature should continue the process of election of the Head of State exclusively on the basis of the current wording of article 78 of the Constitution;
6. The referendum on amending the Constitution cannot in any way be regarded as a means of verifying the vote of confidence or no confidence given to the parliamentary majority, or this confirmation shall be made exclusively under ordinary or early parliamentary elections.

The Council of the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair elections