January 31 (SeeNews) - The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) submitted to parliament a proposal to hold a referendum on the ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, known as the Istanbul Convention, parliament said on Wednesday.
The planned referendum will ask the question: "Are you against the National Assembly ratifying the so-called Istanbul Convention," according to data published on the parliament's website.
Proposals to hold a referendum in Bulgaria need the signatures of 48 members of parliament in order to be considered by Parliament. BSP holds 80 seats in Bulgaria's national assembly.
To pass, a proposal for a referendum needs a simple majority in the 240-seat parliament.
Bulgaria signed the Istanbul Convention in April 2016.
However, the translation of the word "gender", used in the context of article 4 of the convention, sparked heated debate. Alongside BSP, the nationalist alliance United Patriots, the junior partner of centre-right GERB in Bulgaria's coalition government, too expressed reservations and the ratification of the convention was consequently delayed.