The draft amendments to the Securities Market Act, which propose the introduction of derivatives as new financial instruments, were supported by the Istrian Democratic Party (IDS) and the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ).
The two parties said it was necessary to bring order to that segment of the financial sector, which had experienced the fastest growth in the last five years.
The amendments to the Customs Act were presented by Finance Ministry State Secretary Ante Zigman, who said that the document belonged to the set of European laws and that its purpose was to simplify and speed up customs procedures.
Meanwhile, parliamentary deputies of four regional parties sent an open letter to Prime Minister Ivo Sanader demanding that the government withdraw its support to the new bill on political parties, proposed by the Party of Rights (HSP).
The government had backed the HSP-sponsored proposal that the registration of political parties should be made conditional on a party's number of members, but suggested that the minimum requirement for registration should be reduced from 10,000, as proposed by the HSP, to at least 5,000 members.
Deputies of the regional parties said at a press conference in the Parliament building that the proposed bill restricted constitutional freedoms and attacked the vested rights of small parties that had participated in democratic development or were participating in the work of Parliament.
They insisted that the proposal was in violation of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of founding political parties and freedom of association, and announced that they would fight against it before the Constitutional Court.