LOWER HOUSE ADOPTS RULING COALITION'S CONCLUSIONS

ZAGREB, Feb 16 (Hina) - Parliament's House of Representatives adopted by a majority vote on Friday conclusions on the current political situation in the country, with 59 votes in favour, 30 against, and one abstention. The conclusions were moved by the benches of the ruling coalition's six parties, the PGS/SBHS (Primorje-Gorski Kotar Alliance/Croatian Party of Slavonia and Baranja) bench and the bench of minority representatives. Conclusions moved by the opposition's Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), the Croatian Party of Rights/Croatian Christian Democratic Union (HSP/HKDU) bench, the Democratic Centre (DC) and HDZ's Ivic Pasalic were turned down. The adopted conclusions state the lower house resolutely demands compliance with provisions from a declaration on the Homeland Defence War adopted by parliament last autumn, among them the one that the Croatian judiciary is obliged to prosecute all possible cases of individual war crimes by applying principles of individual liability and guilt. The conclusions also support the president of state, the government, and judicial institutions in executing their powers, and bind the government and competent state bodies to act in line with the Constitution and legislation in preventing activities which could endanger the basic values of the constitutional order. The lower house turned down a HDZ conclusion which proposed that the government prepare amendments to the constitutional law on cooperation with UN's war crimes tribunal in The Hague and amnesty for Croatia's war veterans. Also turned down was a HSP/HKDU conclusion which proposed passing a special law which would guarantee permanent legal protection to all war veterans and put an end to the criminal prosecution of same. Thumbs down were also given Pasalic's conclusion that the Justice Ministry initiate amnesty for Mirko Norac, a retired general accused of war crimes against civilians. (hina) ha