CROATIAN PARLIAMENT BEGINS DEBATE ON CHANGES TO ELECTORAL LAW

ZAGREB, April 1 (Hina) - Croatia's parliament on Tuesday morning resumed its session by endorsing the government-sponsored bill on health care, which was in the first reading, and continued the sitting with a debate on amendments to the electoral law. #L# The amendments are moved by the Committee on the Constitution, Rule Book and Political System. The committee's chairman and Social Democratic Party (SDP) whip, Mato Arlovic, recalled previous parliamentary debates on a few draft acts on elections. Then parliament decided to entrust the said committee with the task to draw up necessary changes to the valid law on the election of MPs, passed in 1991, so that it could comply with the constitutional deadline to change the relevant law a year before elections, i.e. until 2 April. The proposed amendments are technical, referring mainly to the adjustment to alterations made to the Constitution under which the House of Counties (upper house) was dissolved and to the new law on national minorities' rights which provides for eight instead of the previous five seats for their representatives in the Sabor. The committee also proposed some changes aimed at adjusting the electoral law to the altered law on the armed forces. Thus, military active persons can stand the election, and in case they are elected they must opt either for becoming deputies in parliament or remaining to be active officers. The parliamentary committee for human rights and rights of national minorities has not supported the moved changes to the electoral law, as it believes that rights of some minorities will be restricted contrary to the Constitution, the committee's chairman, Furio Radin said. Minorities' MPs are also dissatisfied with the fact that the electoral law does not provide for the possibility that minorities' members can vote twice , i.e. for parties' slates and for their minorities' slates.