Budapest Referendum Runs Out of Time

(ATR) The Hungarian Supreme Court on Wednesday denied a proposal to host a referendum on the Budapest 2024 Olympic bid.

The court ruled that the proposed referendum would be invalid as it would have taken place after the deadline for bid cities to submit the first round of documentation to the IOC on Feb. 17.

"The question suggests that voters may give their opinion about the submission of the bid, even though it will have been submitted by the time of the referendum," said the Supreme Court, now known as the Kuria.

The court also argued that Budapest city officials approved to move forward with the bid and notified the IOC of their intentions last year. The bid also has the support of Prime Minister Viktor Orban and the Hungarian Olympic Committee.

The Kuria say the ruling is final and there will be no appeal process allowed. An advocate for the referendum says the decision will not stop those opposed to the Olympic bid.

"We are not resigning ourselves to this result," said Katalin Erdelyi. "The court's decision is illogical."

Fellow opponents of the bid, the Together Party, said the Kuria "made an unacceptable political decision", preventing citizens from voting on matters that "significantly affect their lives."

If the decision to hold a referendum had been approved, opponents of the bid would still have to acquire at least 140,000 signatures before the referendum could be held.

A referendum successfully ended the bid from Hamburg, Germany in November. Los Angeles, Paris and Rome remain in the race to host the 2024 Games.

The IOC will decide on the host city at the IOC Session in 2017.

Written by KevinNutley

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