Is government blatantly flouting the referendum law and just not saying anything? That's a legitimate concern tonight because it's almost 80 days since OCEANA submitted its offshore drilling referendum petition - and the Chief Elections has not certified or de-certified the signatures within the prescribed time. She referred us to the attorney general. He's the lawyer for the government, who - incredibly - told us that he's waiting on legal advice.
And while this playing hot potato may entertain the bureaucracy - the law makes no provision for any delays or marking time waiting for a legal opinion.
Sources tell us that the government is trying to more or less tell OCEANA that it simply doesn't plan to do the referendum.
This flies in the face of the letter of the law which says a referendum must be held once the threshold of signatures is certified as having been met.
Recently, when the churches met the referendum threshold - the Bar Association made public a position that once a petition bearing at least 10% of signatures from the voting population is presented it must be certified or not certified in no more than two months.
They said, quote, "The Executive is, therefore, legally bound to proceed to referendum once the requirements are met."
