ZAGREB, Nov 29 (Hina) - The Croatian People's Party (HNS) president on Friday described segments of the bill on minorities' rights which introduce the minorities' self-rule on the local level as very good, but segments on the manner
for the election of ethnic minorities' MPs were disputable for this party.
ZAGREB, Nov 29 (Hina) - The Croatian People's Party (HNS) president
on Friday described segments of the bill on minorities' rights
which introduce the minorities' self-rule on the local level as
very good, but segments on the manner for the election of ethnic
minorities' MPs were disputable for this party. #L#
This draft law defines to a great extent Croatia's political
profile in the future, Vesna Pusic said at a news conference at
which she presented the HNS Presidency's conclusions.
"Croatia should aspire for civil state in which all citizens are
'political Croats, i.e. in which ethnicity was not a criterion for
any discrimination. Since we, as a nation, are not in such a
situation, then we should adapt the (minorities) bill and the
electoral law in order to develop ourselves in that direction,"
Pusic said.
According to the HNS, this can be achieved through "positive
discrimination" for minorities, so that they may have the right to
vote, as Croatian citizens, for political parties' slates and also
for their representatives in the Sabor, Pusic explained.
She added that different opinions were voiced inside the five-party
ruling coalition on the matter, but they adopted two conclusions on
which all party leaders agreed.
According to the conclusions, the constitutional law on minorities
would contain a general formulation, while the electoral law would
define the model for the election of minorities MPs. The latter
should not give solutions which might be below rights the
minorities in Croatia now enjoy, Pusic said.
"When Croatia enter the European Union, we shall be there a
minority, and it is not acceptable for us to disrespect minorities'
rights," she said.
(hina) ms sb