CRO UPPER HOUSE'S DELEGATION FILES APPEAL WITH CONS. COURT

ZAGREB, March 20 (Hina) - A multiparty delegation of the Croatian parliament's House of Counties on Tuesday lodged an appeal with the Constitutional Court asking it to proclaim the House of Representatives' decision to embark on constitutional changes as null and void. This is required as the House of representatives decided to start changing the Constitution without receiving the opinion of the upper house (the House of Counties) on the matter. According to the document filed with the Constitutional Court, the Court is asked to take an immediate temporary measure which will discontinue further activities on amending the Constitution as long as the Constitutional Court does not make a final ruling. The appeal has been signed by 49 MPs in the upper house and 31 MPs in the lower house (the House of Representatives). The upper house's delegation included Miroslav Prpic and Ivan Brlekovic of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Miroslav Rozic of the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) and Ankica Mamic of the Liberal Party (LS). The latest constitutional changes, initiated by a group of deputies in the House of Representatives, envisage the abolishment of the House of Counties and the redefinition of the suffrage for the Diaspora. (hina) sb ms