ZAGREB, July 30 (Hina) - National minority MPs on Tuesday said that it was egregious and against the constitution when Prime Minister designate Ivica Racan, as they said, uttered threats during an intermission of the parliament's
extraordinary session in the Sabor hall and outside it, warning that in future they would be elected in the Sabor through party listings and not as representatives of national minorities if they do not accept a discussion in urgent procedure on the constitutional bill on national minorities.
ZAGREB, July 30 (Hina) - National minority MPs on Tuesday said that
it was egregious and against the constitution when Prime Minister
designate Ivica Racan, as they said, uttered threats during an
intermission of the parliament's extraordinary session in the
Sabor hall and outside it, warning that in future they would be
elected in the Sabor through party listings and not as
representatives of national minorities if they do not accept a
discussion in urgent procedure on the constitutional bill on
national minorities. #L#
The same warning was expressed by Social Democratic Party bench
head Mato Arlovic, said representatives of the national minority
bench, Milan Djukic (the Serb National Party or SNS) and MP for the
Czech minority Zdenka Cuhlin and also a member of the Croatian
Peasants' Party (HSS) at a press conference.
MP for the Italian minority and the president of the Committee for
Human Rights and National Minorities Furio Radin said that threats
of this nature were unheard of and unconstitutional and that
minority MPs in the Croatian Sabor had never experienced anything
of that nature before.
We wish to forget threats like that because that sort of proposal
would bring about obedient representatives of national minorities
in parties. Despite all this we will vote for Racan's new
government, Radin said.
He added that the main coalition partner - the SDP - has ventured on
a campaign against minority MPs seeing that all party benches (even
the Croatian Democratic Union - HDZ in the opposition) were against
the constitutional law in urgent procedure with the exception of
the Independent Liberals.
He warned that everything said in the Sabor today was brought down
to the minorities demanding positive discrimination even though
the Committee for Human Rights and National Minorities forwarded a
total of 18 amendments on the bill.
Cuhlin did not reply to a question about the HSS's attitude to
positive discrimination, but cautioned that following talks with
minority representatives, the government significantly changed
the bill.
Djukic believes that Racan wanted to send a message to minorities to
accept what they were offered now, or an even worse bill could be
presented to the Sabor in the autumn. Djukic believes that the
Premier's option had fallen through even before the government was
able to gain confidence.
(hina) sp ms