SDP BENCH SAYS WALKED OUT OF PARLIAMENT BECAUSE OF INSULTS

ZAGREB, June 17 (Hina) - Deputies of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) walked out of Monday's parliament session focusing on amendments to the Penal Code, protesting against frequent insults thrown at them, to which session chairman Ivica Kostovic did not react, the SDP bench told reporters Tuesday. #L# "We have walked out of the parliament hall previously and will walk out every time we are insulted and nobody, not even the chairman, reacts to such primitivism," deputy party whip Milanka Opacic said, describing "the primitivism of a group of MPs" as impermissible. Although Opacic did not mention any concrete names, she was referring to independent MP Ivo Loncar, who called the Communist Party and its symbols -- the hammer and sickle -- criminal, describing Tito one of the biggest criminals in history. She was also referring to Croatian Christian Democratic Union's Anto Kovacevic, who told Mladen Godek of the Libra party that he was talking nonsense and gibberish. The SDP is also protesting, the MPs say, over a statement by Public Works, Reconstruction and Construction Minister Radimir Cacic, published in Tuesday's "Jutarnji list" daily, that a parliament vice-president, SDP's Mato Arlovic, was a "sick man" because he removed a bill on mountainous regions from the parliament agenda. Another SDP deputy, Marin Jurjevic, warned that the ugly part of the electoral campaign had begun, adding that the rhetoric of some MPs "indicates they will stop at nothing". He particularly denounced claims by the Social Liberals (HSLS) that the SDP was currying favour with addicts by suggesting that possession of small amounts of light narcotics be decriminalised and accused the HSLS of wishing to manipulate the addiction problem about which a national consensus should be reached. (hina) lml