ZAGREB, Oct 10 (Hina) - Most clubs of deputies in the Croatian parliament on Thursday endorsed a government-sponsored bill on the right to access to information, but the opposition was against its being adopted in the first
reading.
ZAGREB, Oct 10 (Hina) - Most clubs of deputies in the Croatian
parliament on Thursday endorsed a government-sponsored bill on the
right to access to information, but the opposition was against its
being adopted in the first reading. #L#
Opposition benches objected that the bill was being discussed too
late and was used for election purposes, and slammed the
authorities for failing to solve the problem of corruption in the
state administration as promised after the 2000 elections.
MPs today held a joint debate about two bills on the right to access
to information, proposed by the government and the Libra party. The
government forwarded its bill to parliament under urgent
procedure, while Libra forwarded its bill in the first reading.
Both bills are aimed at enabling all legal and physical persons to
obtain, within reasonable time, accurate and complete information
on the operation of state administration bodies.
Under the bills, the right to access to information, which is
guaranteed by the General Declaration of the Right of Man and of the
Citizen, does not refer to information marked as state or military
secret or information the publishing of which could threaten public
order and citizens' health.
As a government representative did not attend the session, Libra
leader Jozo Rados introduced his party's bill.
He said that the precisely defined balance between the right to
access to information and exceptions from that right was the first
characteristic of a well-organised state.
The bill envisages equality of users in accessing information, the
duty of institutions with public authorities to inform interested
citizens about information of public interest, and the obligation
to issue accurate, complete and timely information.
Unlike the government's bill, Libra's bill also contains a
regulation on citizens having access to information on public
procurement procedures.
The party's bill also envisages introduction of a catalogue of
information on all bodies of state administration, to be published
by the government once a year, as well as penalties for officials
refusing requests for access to information.
Zelimir Janjic of the Social Liberals objected that the government
not only had failed to solve the problem of corruption as promised
at the start of its term of office, but had let it even worsen.
He accused the government of lack of transparency towards public
and of failing to make public agreements on the sale of Croatian
Telecom and the Croatian Oil Company (INA).
Croatia is one of the few transition countries which do not have a
law on the right to access to information and is 59th on a list of 130
countries, with a high level of corruption.
Janjic's claims were backed by Ljerka Mintas Hodak of the Croatian
True Revival club of deputies and Ivan Jarnjak of the Croatian
Democratic Union.
Responding to the opposition's criticism, Dorotea Pesic Bukovac of
the Istrian Democratic Assembly said that the right to information
was an important step in the democratisation of society, "which
must be made despite obstacles posed by the HDZ's legislative
legacy, which should be done away with as soon as possible".
The parliament today also wrapped up work on final amendments to the
Law on the Protection of Personal Data without debate.
(hina) rml