ZAGREB, Nov 6 (Hina) - The election campaign for the November 23 parliamentary elections in Croatia starts officially on Thursday.
ZAGREB, Nov 6 (Hina) - The election campaign for the November 23
parliamentary elections in Croatia starts officially on Thursday.
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The campaign will last 16 days, until 22 November, when media
blackout goes into force.
Media blackout will remain in force until the closing of polling
stations at 7 pm. Polling stations will be open from 7 am to 7 pm on
election day, while those in diplomatic and consular offices will
be opened a day earlier.
A total of 5,119 candidates will run in the elections, with 403
candidacies having been submitted.
The National Election Commission will announce the first
unofficial results two to three hours after polling stations are
closed.
The parliament must convene for a constituent session within 20
days from the announcement of official election results, i.e. when
election materials are returned from all polling stations.
The voters will vote for candidates on party or independent lists,
each consisting of 14 candidates and their deputies, in line with
the proportional election system. Parties and independent lists
which pass the election threshold of five percent in a constituency
will have the right to have seats in parliament.
The Republic of Croatia is divided into ten constituencies, the
electorate being citizens with permanent residence in the country.
Constituency no. 11 is designed for Croatian citizens who do not
have permanent residence in Croatia.
Members of national minorities will vote for eight candidates in a
separate constituency, no. 12, which covers the territory of the
whole of Croatia.
The parliament can have at least 100 deputies and 160 at the most.
Thirty-five parties, 15 coalition and 19 independent lists and 30
minority candidates ran in the January 2000 parliamentary
elections. At the time, there were 83 registered political parties,
and this year there were 91 registered parties.
(hina) rml