PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEES FOR ELECTIONS UNDER EXISTING LAW

ZAGREB, March 10 (Hina) - The Croatian parliament's committees for the Constitution and legislature on Monday agreed that the coming parliamentary elections would take place under the existing electoral law, dating from 1999, with the necessary changes to harmonise it with amendments to the Constitution and the Constitutional Law on the Rights of National Minorities. #L# At a joint session, the committees suggested to the parliament that it entrust the Committee for the Constitution with the task to move amendments to the existing electoral law by the next parliamentary session, since there is no time for the adoption of a new law with the constitutional deadline expiring by April 2 for that purpose. The vote will thus be held under the existing law which will be harmonised with the constitution, regarding provisions on the annulment of the House of Counties, and with the constitutional law on minorities, which envisages eight instead of the present five seats for minorities. Despite this decision, the committee for the Constitution with a majority of votes decided to forward into parliament all four draft electoral laws -- by the Democratic Centre, Croatian Peasants Party, Social Democratic Party and MPs Zlatko Kramaric and Damir Kajin. The committee chairman, Mato Arlovic, believes it necessary that all four drafts pass through the first reading so that based on criticism and suggestions from the discussion a working group could be established which would try and draw out the best of all drafts as a basis for the drawing up of a new electoral law for parliamentary and local elections. The opposition's Croatian Democratic Union was against this parliamentary discussion since a new electoral law would not be passed for the time being. (hina) lml sb