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referendum
referendum referral of proposed laws or constitutional amendments to the electorate for final approval. This direct form of legislation, along with the initiative , was known in Greece and other early democracies. Today, these legislative devices are widely used in certain countries, most notably ...
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Parti Québécois
Parti Québécois (PQ), provincial political party committed to the independence of Quebec. Founded in 1968, it soon became a force in provincial elections. In 1976, led by René Lévesque , it captured control of the provincial assembly. Among its first acts was the passag...
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Mohammad Zia ul-Haq
Mohammad Zia ul-Haq 1924-88, Pakistani military and political leader. Named general and chief of staff by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1976, he declared martial law in July, 1977, in response to agitations against election fraud. He imprisoned Bhutto, later (1979) executing him. Zia became president in...
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Brian Mulroney
Brian Mulroney (Martin Brian Mulroney) , 1939-, Canadian prime minister (1984-93). Raised in Quebec in a working class family, Mulroney was a successful bilingual lawyer who became active in provincial politics in the 1970s. In 1983 he was elected both national leader of the Progressive Conservat...
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Gibraltar
Gibraltar , British overseas territory (2005 est. pop. 27,900), 2.5 sq mi (6.5 sq km), on a narrow, rocky peninsula extending into the Mediterranean Sea from SW Spain. Most of the peninsula is occupied by the Rock of Gibraltar (Lat. Calpe ), one of the Pillars of Hercules , which guards the nort...
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Jean Charest
Jean Charest , 1958-, Canadian politician. A lawyer and member of the Progressive Conservative party, he was been a member of parliament from Quebec since 1984. From 1986 to 1993 Charest served in cabinet positions—as minister of state for youth (1986-90) and fitness and amateur sport (1988-90...
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John Winston Howard
John Winston Howard 1939-, Australian political leader and prime minister (1996-2007), b. Sydney. A graduate of Sydney Univ., a conservative lawyer, and a member of the Liberal party, he was elected to parliament in 1974 and served as minister for business and consumer affairs (1975-77) and treasur...
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initiative
initiative the originating of a law or constitutional amendment by popular petition. It is intended to allow the electorate to initiate legislation independently of the legislature. This direct form of legislation, together with the referendum , was known in Greece and other early democracies. It ...
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amendment
amendment in law, alteration of the provisions of a legal document. The term usually refers to the alteration of a statute or a constitution , but it is also applied in parliamentary law to proposed changes to a bill or motion under consideration, and in judicial procedure to the correction ...
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Lucien Bouchard
Lucien Bouchard , 1938-, French-Canadian separatist leader, b. Quebec. A lawyer and a political ally of Brian Mulroney , Bouchard served under him as Canada's ambassador to France (1985-88) and environment minister (1989-90). In 1990 he broke with Mulroney and the Progressive Conservative party ove...
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