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Cons. Court to decide on ethnic minorities' voting rights by summer recess

ZAGREB, April 11 (Hina) - Opinions of experts in interpreting the Constitution differ on the issue whether the latest amendments of the Constitutional law on national minorities's rights regulating the election of their parliamentary deputies are in line with the Constitution which is why the Constitutional Court will once again ask their expertise on the matter, Court President Jasna Omejec said during Monday's advisory session on this topic.

According to Omejec, it is evident from experts' opinions that they believe that the said amendments are not in compliance with the Constitution but they do not cite the same reasons and differ in views.

Constitutional Court judges will convene another meeting, and refer this issue to the Venetian Commission, if necessary. The court might make decisions in July before its summer recess, Omejec said.

The request for the assessing whether those amendments are in line with the Constitution have been submitted by several civil society associations, including GONG and the Croatian Helsinki Committee for human rights, and the Serb Democratic Forum and the nonparliamentary Socialist Workers' Party.

Commenting on the amendments to the Constitutional Law on the Rights of National Minorities and the Law on the Election of Member of the Croatian Parliament relating to the exercise of additional voting rights by national minorities GONG has said in its request that those amendments put national minorities in an unequal position, because minorities that make up less than 1.5 per cent of Croatia's population have an additional voting right, while those whose proportion in the overall population exceeds 1.5 per cent do not.

In February, GONG urged the Constitutional Court to decide on the matter as soon as possible in order to clarify the election rules in the current election year and to preserve the integrity of the election process.

The HHO asks the assessing of the legislation's sections regulating the additional rights assigned to the Serb minority. The HHO holds that treating the Serb minority separately from other minorities creates a dangerous precedent.

The Serb Democratic Forum believes that the amendments put the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS), a member of the ruling coalition, in a more favourable position than other Serb political parties.

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