Direct democracy petition

The non-profit organisation MeinOe: Direkte Demokratie jetzt! will put its agenda before the Austrian electorate from 15 to 23 Apr. 2013. The initiative led by former Green Party MEP Johannes Voggenhuber and former Social Democratic Deputy Governor of Salzburg, Wolfgang Radlegger, collected 12,178 statements of support from members of the public in spring this year, enough to launch a Popular Petition. The announcement came on 13 Nov. by Interior Minster Johanna Mikl-Leitner, who has set the date for the petition.

Although the organisers are unhappy with the date – they had hoped for the week of 8 Jan., the same date as the controversial referendum on mandatory military service – a recent study of the polling institute IFES, on "Direct Democracy and Austria", suggests strong support of MeinOe’s agenda: 79% of the respondents are in favour of increasing direct democracy.