2.1 Million Brits Signed A Petition for Another E.U. Referendum
26 June 2016 11:58 WIB
TEMPO.CO, London - People in Britain are talking seriously about the possibility of another referendum.
A petition calling for another referendum on whether Britain should stay in the European Union has now received at least 2.1 million signatures — a level that means it must now be debated by British politicians.
It was apparently so popular that the British Parliament's website, where the petition was hosted, briefly crashed.
The drive for a new referendum is coming from those who had hoped to "remain" in the E.U. Thursday'sreferendum was fairly close — the "leave" vote won with just 51.9 percent.
And so the petition for a new referendum suggests there should be a rule that in referendums with less than 75 percent turnout (Thursday's vote was 72.2 percent), there should be another referendum unless a decision is reached by more than 60 percent of those voting.
Britain has only ever had three nationwide referendums. Generally, major policy decisions are decided by the country's elected officials.
As many have noted, this referendum was only called in a bid by Prime Minister David Cameron to calm tensions over the E.U. within his own Conservative Party ahead of a general election. Cameron thought he could win. Obviously he was completely mistaken.
WASHINGTON POST | MARIA RITA
