2008 Hungarian fees abolition referendum

[2] Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány stated that the fees would be abolished on 1 April 2008 following the referendum, but that the government had no funds available to replace the income lost for the higher educations institutions and health institutions due to the abolishment of the fees.

The procedure for the referendum started on 23 October 2006, when Viktor Orbán, the leader of Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union announced they would hand in seven questions to the National Electorate Office, three of which (on abolishing co-payments, daily fees and college tuition fees) were officially approved on 17 December 2007 and called on 24 January 2008.

[4] To be valid, the referendum required at least 25% of the about 8 million eligible voters to vote in favour of one of the options.

Official results showed that the necessary votes were achieved, with a turnout of over 50% (higher than opinion polls had expected).

[6] This also meant that the MSZP formed the first minority government in Hungary since the end of communism, supported externally by SZDSZ.