PARLIAMENT REFUSES TO APPOINT MEMBER OF BIGGEST OPPOSITION PARTY

ZAGREB, March 29 (Hina) - Parliament on Thursday turned down a motion to appoint Ivic Pasalic of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party to the Internal Affairs and National Security Committee. This elicited a stormy reaction among MPs of the HDZ, the strongest opposition party, who said they would boycott the work of parliamentary committees until the situation was resolved. By turning down the motion, put forward by the Election and Appointments Committee, parliament departed from the usual practice whereby a party, with previous agreement of all parties, can independently propose members for certain committees. MPs of the ruling six-party coalition voted against Pasalic after the deputy chairman of the Internal Affairs and National Security Committee, Ivan Ninic of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), said Pasalic's involvement with secret services had been proved and that he was not a person the committee would need. "If Pasalic is elected, I will resign," said Ninic. Milan Kovac of the HDZ countered by saying Pasalic had been demonised by the government for the past year, and that he had not been proven guilty of anything he had been accused of. For a long time now, the Zagreb media have been implicating Pasalic in various political and corruption scandals. The HDZ bench has the right to propose another representative for the Internal Affairs and National Security Committee. Deputy parliamentary speaker Mato Arlovic, of the SDP, conceded certain reservations about Pasalic existed owing to the fact that when parliament was being constituted, the HDZ first proposed him as a candidate for deputy speaker and then, without explanation, proposed someone else. (hina) ha sb