GONG DISSATISFIED WITH ELECTION LAW

ZAGREB, April 4 (Hina) - The Croatian non-governmental organisation GONG (Organised Election Monitoring by Citizens) is dissatisfied with the existing election bill because it is being adopted only a month and a half before the election and because it considers it imprecise. In a statement issued on Wednesday, GONG says the bill is a continuation of the practice which has marked the Croatian legislation over the past decade, with most issues being regulated with by-laws, which caused the citizens' legal uncertainty. Given that a new bill on local self-government is in parliamentary procedure too, it can be expected that the citizens will not know until the very election day how many councillors they elect and what are the powers of the elected bodies - municipal, town and county assemblies, the statement reads. The final election bill is a major step backward in the regulation of independent election monitoring, especially because it allows election monitoring only on the election day, the statement reads. GONG therefore calls on parliamentary deputies to see that independent election monitoring is regulated in detail. (hina) sb rml