RULING COALITION HARMONISING VIEWS ON ELECTION LAW

ZAGREB, March 31 (Hina)- The ruling coalition benches in the Croatian Sabor will on Tuesday discuss an election bill prior to a plenary discussion in the hope of finding a joint election model for MPs from the Croatian diaspora, unofficial sources reported following a meeting of the heads of the coalition parties on Monday afternoon. #L# Parliament will discuss a bill of amendments to the Election Law that was prepared by the parliamentary Committee for the Constitution, Rule Book and Political System. The Sabor is obliged to determine election models for the coming parliamentary elections by April 2. Coalition parties, the unofficial source said, do not deny the diaspora its right to representation in the Croatian Sabor, however, they are still not clear of how these MPs should be elected. At a recent Sabor discussion on electoral legislation, most parties and MPs were in favour of retaining the current model of having MPs from the diaspora elected in a separate constituency, based on an non-fixed quota, which means that the number of diaspora MPs would depend on the turnout outside Croatia and within the country. In line with this method, at the last parliamentary elections in January 2000, six MPs from the diaspora were elected to the Sabor. At the elections prior to that, in 1995, the diaspora had 12 MPs elected by a fixed quota. Most coalition parties favour the model according to which Croats in Bosnia-Herzegovina are not considered part of the diaspora, meaning that their right to vote would be regulated by a dual citizenship agreement between the two countries which is being drawn up. The idea is that citizens with dual citizenship would be allowed to vote only in one country. (hina) sp/ha sb