RIGA, August 3 (RIA Novosti) - A Latvian referendum on giving people the power to dissolve parliament failed to win enough support, with less than half the eligible electorate going to the polls, the national election committee said Sunday.
According to the electoral data, only 560,000 Latvians or about 43% of Latvia's 1.5 million eligible voters took part in the referendum on Saturday, with 40% of the electors casting "yes" ballots and 3% casting "no" ballots."
In early March, 217,000 electors or about 15% of Latvia's eligible voters signed a petition calling for a referendum on amendments to the Constitution to give people the right to dissolve the 100-seat parliament through a plebiscite.
The referendum was held amid public discontent with the ruling parties, the allegations of high-level corruption and economic slump in the republic.
