MAGYAR KÉTFARKÚ KUTYA PÁRT v. HUNGARY JUDGMENT 37 Koutmeridis and Zaharakis v. Greece, nos. 27863/05 and 2 others, §§ 29-35, 10 April 2008). 100. When those legal provisions form the basis for restricting the exercise of freedom of expression, this is an additional element to be taken into account when considering the foreseeability requirements which the law must fulfil. In this connection the Court reiterates that free speech is essential in ensuring “the free expression of the opinion of the people in the choice of the legislature”. For this reason, it is particularly important in the period preceding an election that opinions and information of all kinds be permitted to circulate freely (see Orlovskaya Iskra v. Russia, no. 42911/08, § 110, 21 February 2017). This is especially true when the freedom of expression at stake is that of a political party. As the Court has repeatedly stated, political parties play an essential role in ensuring pluralism and the proper functioning of democracy. Restrictions on their freedom of expression therefore have to be made the subject of a rigorous supervision (see among others, mutatis mutandis, Refah Partisi (the Welfare Party) and Others v. Turkey [GC], nos. 41340/98 and 3 others, §§87-88 and 100, ECHR 2003-II). The same applies, mutatis mutandis, in the context of a referendum aimed at identifying the will of the electorate on matters of public concern. 101. In the Court’s opinion, this kind of supervision naturally extends to the assessment of whether the legal basis relied on by the authorities in restricting the freedom of expression of a political party was foreseeable in its effects to an extent ruling out any arbitrariness in its application. A rigorous supervision here not only serves to protect democratic political parties from arbitrary interferences by the authorities, but also protects democracy itself, since any restriction on freedom of expression in this context without sufficiently foreseeable regulations can harm open political debate, the legitimacy of the voting process and its results and, ultimately, the confidence of citizens in the integrity of democratic institutions and their commitment to the rule of law. (b) Application of these principles in the present case 102. In the present case, the parties’ opinions (see paragraphs 69 and 79 above respectively) differed as to whether the legal basis for the interference with the MKKP’s freedom of expression had been sufficiently foreseeable and, thus, whether the interference was “prescribed by law”. 103. The MKKP argued that neither domestic law nor judicial practice prohibited the taking of ballot photographs and that the principle of the exercise of rights in accordance with their purpose, as applied by the domestic authorities, could serve as a legal basis for restrictions in an electoral context only if it was relied on in a situation where the restricted conduct entailed a negative consequence, for instance the infringement of