ZAGREB, Nov 21 (Hina) - A moratorium on electioneering will go into force in Croatia at midnight on Friday and will last until the closure of polling stations at 1900 hours on Sunday.
ZAGREB, Nov 21 (Hina) - A moratorium on electioneering will go into
force in Croatia at midnight on Friday and will last until the
closure of polling stations at 1900 hours on Sunday. #L#
At 0700 hours on Sunday, 6,795 polling stations will open
throughout Croatia where voters will cast their ballots for the
fifth parliament, known as the Sabor.
The State Electoral Commission has announced that preliminary
results of the vote will be made public at 2130 hours on Sunday.
Citizens who do not live in Croatia or who happen to be abroad over
the weekend will be able to vote at 155 polling stations in 40
countries on November 22 and 23.
There are more than 4.3 million eligible voters, of whom 399,849
live outside Croatia. About 200,000 more voters are participating
in the ballot than in the previous parliamentary elections in
2000.
Under the Law on the Election of Members of Parliament, Croatia is
divided into ten constituencies in which a total of 140
parliamentary representatives will be elected under the
proportional representation system from party rosters and lists of
independent candidates.
Croatian citizens living outside Croatia will cast vote in
constituency no. 11, which is designed for the expatriate
community, also under the proportional representation system.
Eight members of parliament will be chosen by 22 ethnic minorities
in constituency no. 12, which covers the entire territory of the
country.
Under the Constitution, the Sabor cannot have fewer than 100 and not
more than 160 members.
Forty-one political parties, 28 party coalitions and 50
independent lists will be competing for seats in the Sabor.
Eight seats reserved for minority representatives are contested by
79 candidates and their stand-ins. Members of ethnic minorities
will decide at the polling station whether they will vote for the
representative of their minority or for proposed party or
independent slates.
5,119 candidates, including 1,280 women, are running in the
election, or over 1,000 more than in the 2000 polls.
Nearly 68,000 people will sit on voting committees.
The voting process will be followed by local and foreign monitors.
The State Electoral Commission has issued 3,640 licences to local
monitors from the non-governmental election monitoring
organisation GONG and the Serb National Council, and a further 77 to
foreign monitors from the European Union, the OSCE, the American
Independent Democratic Institute and the Embassy of Serbia and
Montenegro.
(hina) vm sb