ZAGREB, Dec 13 (Hina) - In the next parliament mandate, national minorities will have at least five seats and eight at the most, says a new constitutional law on the rights of national minorities passed in parliament on
Friday.
ZAGREB, Dec 13 (Hina) - In the next parliament mandate, national
minorities will have at least five seats and eight at the most, says
a new constitutional law on the rights of national minorities
passed in parliament on Friday. #L#
Minorities will vote for their representatives in parliament in a
special constituency.
A motion that minorities be given double voting rights did not
receive the necessary two-third majority of votes, nor did a motion
that minorities be elected from party lists.
The Serb minority, which makes up for 1.5 percent of the Croatian
population, will have one to three deputies.
Ten smaller minorities will have a total of four MPs, as has been the
case so far. Italians and Hungarians will have one deputy each,
Czechs and Slovaks a joint one, and Ruthenians, Ukrainians,
Germans, Austrians and Jews will also share an MP.
The constitutional law regulated the establishment of a national
minority council and representatives of minorities in self-
government units, also known as minority self-government.
The law envisages the founding of a council of national minorities
which would be in charge of suggesting and solving issues relating
to the protection of the rights and freedoms of national
minorities.
The government dismissed an amendment by the Social Democratic
Party (SDP), Croatian Peasants Party (HSS) and Croatian National
Party/Primorje Gorski Kotar County/Slavonia Baranja Croatian
Party (HNS/PGS/BSHS) benches that the law be dubbed constitutional
law on human rights and minorities' rights, because they believe
that the issue of human rights can be regulated with a separate law
which they will move in parliament if needed.
A total of 115 MPs voted for the constitutional law. Four MPs were
against, it was established in the end, not five as it had been said
immediately after the vote.
Ante Beljo (Croatian Democratic Union) and Ivo Loncar (independent
MP) abstained.
Today's voting on the constitutional law has ended almost half a
year of negotiations and disputes surrounding its content.
(hina) lml sb