Voters asked: Do you want siesta?

BUDAPEST, Hungary (Reuters) -- "Do you agree that the Parliament of the Republic of Hungary should make a law about introducing the siesta?"

Hungary's eight million voters may soon be asked to answer that question after the National Election Committee ruled late on Monday that it was fit for a referendum.

Citizens suffering in the record heat this month will however have to keep paying for their refreshments as the committee earlier struck down a referendum proposal about making beer free in restaurants, saying it would have distorted the market.

Proponents of the bill on an afternoon nap now have to collect 200,000 signatures to force a referendum.

Since democracy came to Hungary after the fall of communism in 1989, there have been frequent referendums, although only two have passed, on joining NATO and the European Union. E-mail to a friend

Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.