Changes to EU referendum rules proposed by PO

Civic Platform (PO) has proposed a lowering of the minimum require turnout for the EU accession referendum and claims it is ready to discuss its idea with the president. A change in regulations to remove the article specifying a 50% minimum turnout, however, would entail constitutional amendments and this seems highly unlikely. At the same time, a presidential proposal suggests that in the event of turnout falling below 50%, the decision of whether to join the EU would be taken by parliament. This is opposed by Donald Tusk, vice-head of PO, who claims, "We have no guarantee that if the country returns a 'no' vote in the referendum, political circles would be quick to make the decision to join". The idea of tampering with the constitution sparked criticism from law specialists, "This is the worst idea possible. The constitution should not be changed for temporary political reasons," said Professor Piotr Winczorek. Also, Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) and Law and Justice (PiS) said they would not back the PO proposal. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A4) J.K.