ZAGREB, Oct 20 (Hina) - The Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) leader and president of the Croatian parliament which was dissolved on Friday has expressed confidence that the Sabor made a good and legal decision when it bound the government
to produce all documentation necessary for the defence of all suspects or defendants of the Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal, including the fugitive Croatian general Ante Gotovina, accused by the tribunal.
ZAGREB, Oct 20 (Hina) - The Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) leader and
president of the Croatian parliament which was dissolved on Friday
has expressed confidence that the Sabor made a good and legal
decision when it bound the government to produce all documentation
necessary for the defence of all suspects or defendants of the
Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal, including the fugitive
Croatian general Ante Gotovina, accused by the tribunal. #L#
"If the Croatian government produces some documents to the Hague-
based tribunal, then it is ethically and morally correct to make it
possible for the defendant to receive the same material, regardless
of the specific situation of Gen. Gotovina who is not available to
the court," Zlatko Tomcic said on Monday.
"The parliament is not infallible. If it happens that MPs make a
decision which is not in compliance with law, the Constitutional
Court should make a ruling on the matter. I see no reason for
tendering resignations," Tomcic said.
Commenting on the work of the dissolved parliament, he said he was
satisfied with the volume of the job it had done, but he described
the bad atmosphere and lack of quorum as negative.
He cautioned that the next head of parliament would face the same
problem unless he or she was given greater powers which would enable
them to direct and co-ordinate the work of MPs in a more efficient
manner.
Greater powers should be granted to the Sabor President also in
relations with the government, Tomcic said but stressed that he did
not mean changes which would entail amending the Constitution.
The HSS chief went on to say that the Sabor could not efficiently
control the functioning of the executive authority and that it had
not been autonomous in its work. Tomcic complained that the
parliament was actually "beheaded without anybody to represent it
in the political sense".
Asked whether he would again be nominated for the parliament's
head, he resolutely ruled out that possibility.
(hina) ms sb