Demokrati hoped to scrap Fico’s lifetime pension and restore anti-corruption watchdogs.
The latest attempt to use a referendum to challenge government policies ended in failure on Saturday, 4 July, after turnout reached only 16.13 percent, making the result legally invalid despite overwhelming support for both proposals among participating voters.
The vote had asked citizens whether Prime Minister Robert Fico should lose the lifetime pension introduced under legislation passed by the governing coalition and whether the state should restore the Special Prosecutor’s Office and the former National Crime Agency, anti-corruption institutions dismantled during the government’s overhaul of the criminal justice system.
More than nine in ten voters backed both proposals. However, with only 705,227 people casting ballots, participation remained far below the constitutional requirement that a majority of all eligible voters take part before a referendum becomes binding.
The result means neither proposal will have any legal effect.
