Budapest -- Preliminary final results of Sunday's referendum showed that Hungarians voted to reverse government medical and tuition fees.
The vote count showed 84 percent voting to reverse daily hospital fees while 16 percent voted against reversal. Eighty-two percent voted to scrap higher education tuition fees and 18 percent voted against it. Eighty-three percent voted to reverse doctors' visit fees and 17 percent voted to keep the fees.
According to preliminary figures over 50 percent participated in the referendum. This is the highest turnout for a popular vote since the change in political system.
Hungary's President Laszlo Solyom said on Sunday that parliament must take the necessary legal steps after the referendum results and politicians must draw the consequences. He said Hungarian voters have expressed their will and the results are self-evident. He added that now it is legislators' and politicians' turn to act.
Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany conceded defeat over the referendum on Sunday. He said the ruling parties would act swiftly to reverse the fees, but he insisted that surgeries and universities would lose revenue as a result of the vote, and the government would not offset the lost revenues that go directly to surgeries and universities from the reversed fees.
Janos Koka, leader of the junior governing Alliance of Free Democrats said on Sunday that the Socialist-liberal government would stick to reforms and pursue a strict and tight fiscal policy." On Monday we will embark on joint efforts with the Socialists to work out professionally and politically acceptable solutions, enabling us to continue reforms in health-care and higher education," he added.
The main opposition Fidesz party on Sunday proposed offsetting lost revenues as a result of the referendum decision to scrap medical co-payments and tuition fees by using taxes receipts from the state-owned lottery company.
