GOVT. PUTS FORWARD COMPROMISE ON MINORITY MPs IN SABOR

ZAGREB, Nov 15 (Hina) - The Croatian government may offer a compromise with regard to a constitutional law on national minorities suggesting that two minority MPs be elected in line with a special voting right and the others in line with the general voting right, from party rosters. #L# A senior government official said the government was considering a proposal according to which one Serb MP and one MP representing all other minorities would be elected in line with a special voting right. All other minority MPs would be elected in line with general voting rights from party rosters and their number in the parliament would depend on the minorities' share in the population. A proposal recently put forward by the government came across sharp criticism from minority and majority political parties. The government proposed that MPs representing 'small minorities' be elected in line with double voting rights. This referred to minorities that make up less than 1.5 percent of the general population. According to the proposal, the Serb minority, which is the only minority whose share in the population exceeds 1.5 percent, would not elect MPs in line with double voting rights. The proposal guaranteed the Serb minority one parliamentary seat, while the total number of its seats was to be calculated in line with the so- called non-fixed quota. The government estimated that in this way the Serb minority would have two-three MPs more than it currently has (one). Under the existing law, along with the Serb minority, the Hungarian and Italian minorities have one MP each as well. The Czech and Slovaks together have one MP and all other minorities have one deputy. The adoption of the constitutional law on minorities is one of the obligations relating to the implementation of the Agreement on Stabilisation and Association with the EU. The government discussed the law at a session on Thursday, when it was announced that it could put forward a compromise next week. The government official considers that the compromise on the election of minority MPs in line with general and special voting rights meets the request that minority rights not be restricted and takes into account the constitutional provision under which minority MPs have a general mandate and do not represent only minority rights. If applied entirely, the double voting right for minorities could disrupt the political scene because ten percent of the population would have rights that the rest of the population would not have, the official explained. (hina) rml