Budapest - Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom on Wednesday announced that a referendum the opposition is billing as a judgement on an unpopular government would be held on March 9. Main opposition party Fidesz last year collected hundreds of thousands of signatures to call for a referendum on charges for visiting the doctor, hospitals and also tuition fees.
The government introduced the charges as part of its efforts to reduce the nation's massive budget deficit, which at 9.2 per cent of gross domestic product in 2006 was the largest in the European Union.
The right-of-centre Fidesz says that if people vote to cancel the charges, they will in fact be calling for the removal of a government that has seen its popularity plummet.
However, the government has said that it has no intention of leaving office should it lose.
The ruling Socialist-liberal coalition begin to haemorrhage support following the 2006 leak of a tape on which Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany admitted lying about the state of the economy.
Riots and street protests broke out immediately following the leak and continued for five weeks.
Further damage was caused by the austerity measures, which included hikes to energy prices, tax increases and plans to introduce private capital to the health insurance system.
The Hungarian Socialist Party, the senior member of the ruling coalition, saw its popularity fall as low as 18 per cent in recent polls.
For a referendum to be valid in Hungary, at least a quarter of the electorate must vote the same way.
The only referendum to achieve this target since Hungary moved over to democracy in 1990 was a 2003 vote on joining the European Union.
