Call to ask why other EU citizens not voting

CAMPAIGN LAUNCH:THE CENTRAL question voters should ask themselves in the debate on the Lisbon Treaty is: "Why are all of the people of the EU not being asked to vote?", the Workers' Party said yesterday.

The party, which is calling for a No vote in the referendum, has invited a number of international left-wing speakers to address a debate on the treaty at its annual conference in Liberty Hall, Dublin today.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, party general secretary John Lowry and Greek Communist Party MEP Athanasios Pafilis said that the core issue was why were all the people of the EU not being asked to vote on the issue.

"It is because they know there is huge opposition to the Lisbon Treaty from working classes", said Mr Pafilis.

"There is a simple question: 'Why do all governments not call referendums?' Where is the democracy?" he asked.

Mr Pafilis said that workers across Europe had battled for an eight-hour working day and the right to retire with a pension.

But they were now being told they must work on until they were 70 or 71, he said, adding: "Who works only eight hours a day?"

Mr Lowry said that there would be huge interest across Europe in the referendum because other countries were not allowed to vote.

National governments knew that voters regarded the treaty as the "same rejected European constitution reheated and repackaged. There is huge opposition to the Lisbon Treaty," he said.