Dutch Referendum: 'Victory For Political Absenteeism & Apathy' – Reporter

What You Need To Know:

✅ Hromadske reporter Zhanna Bezpiatchuk finds the results 
“doubtfully representative";

✅ "It’s not the victory of the ‘No’ vote, it’s rather the victory for political absenteeism, indifference and political apathy among the voters;"

✅ Bezpiatchuk says that the majority of people in the Netherlands didn’t care about the referendum, thus allowing the mobilization of the protest electorate to “use this referendum as a proxy vote on the EU.”

 ✅ “The Dutch Government will not ignore it and they will reconsider their previous decision;”

The results of the referendum in the Netherlands on Ukraine’s Trade Association with the EU were disappointing for many Ukrainians, with more than 61% voting against the deal. Turnout for the referendum was lower than national elections --only 32% of the population participated, however it passed the 30% threshold at which the referendum becomes legitimate. Hromadske Reporter Zhanna Bezpiatchuk finds the results “doubtfully representative” and adds “it’s not the victory of the ‘No’ vote it’s rather the victory for political absenteeism, indifference and political apathy among the voters.”

Bezpiatchuk says that the majority of people in the Netherlands didn’t care about the referendum, thus allowing the mobilization of the protest electorate to “use this referendum as a proxy vote on the EU.”

Although the referendum was non-binding, ratification of the agreement cannot go ahead without discussion. “The Dutch Government will not ignore it and they will reconsider their previous decision,” says Bezpiatchuk. She thinks that most probably, certain European clauses from the agreement will be looked at that are significant to ‘No’ voters, and they will be put on a bilateral Ukraine and EU agreement --allowing the Netherlands to go off the list of signatures from certain clauses.

Hromadske’s Nataliya Gumenyuk and Andriy Kulykov spoke to Zhanna Bezpiatchuk, Hromadske Reporter live on The Sunday Show on April 10th, 2016 in Kyiv.