ZAGREB, July 9 (Hina) - The Croatian parliament on Tuesday continues its 13th session and according to statements from opposition parties its beginning will be marked by requests for a discussion on cooperation with the Hague war
crimes tribunal in the light of two sealed indictments against Croatian citizens. In the fourth week of its 13th sitting the parliament should, according to previous plans, continue its debate on a package of farming laws, however, in the light of the latest events from late last week, when the government decided to comply with the Hague tribunal's request to hand over two war crimes indictees, it would be difficult to expect the parliament to proceed with the previous agenda. The Democratic Centre (DC) parliamentary bench has forwarded a written request to parliament speaker Zlatko Tomcic asking him to urgently include said items in the agenda whereas the strongest opposition party - HDZ de
ZAGREB, July 9 (Hina) - The Croatian parliament on Tuesday
continues its 13th session and according to statements from
opposition parties its beginning will be marked by requests for a
discussion on cooperation with the Hague war crimes tribunal in the
light of two sealed indictments against Croatian citizens.
In the fourth week of its 13th sitting the parliament should,
according to previous plans, continue its debate on a package of
farming laws, however, in the light of the latest events from late
last week, when the government decided to comply with the Hague
tribunal's request to hand over two war crimes indictees, it would
be difficult to expect the parliament to proceed with the previous
agenda.
The Democratic Centre (DC) parliamentary bench has forwarded a
written request to parliament speaker Zlatko Tomcic asking him to
urgently include said items in the agenda whereas the strongest
opposition party - HDZ decided to request that the debate on
Croatia's relationship with the ICTY be the first item on the
parliamentary agenda.
Parliament speaker Zlatko Tomcic informed DC deputies today that
the parliament could not hold a closed-door session at which the two
ICTY indictments would be discussed, among else, because the DC did
not collect the necessary signatures of 51 deputies.
DC's president Mate Granic conveyed to reporters Tomcic's stand
that such a debate would not be in line with the ICTY Statute or
Croatia's Constitutional Law on Cooperation with the ICTY. Granic
said his party would support any other party's request for a closed-
door parliament debate. The DC believes the parliament must discuss
the Hague indictments because the rifts this question has caused in
Croatian society are too serious for the government to assume
responsibility and carry out the entire job on its own, Granic
said.
The Croatian parliament will meet on Sunday to discuss Prime
Minister Racan's request for a vote on confidence in the
government. The request was forwarded to parliamentary deputies
today.
It is certain that MPs will convene for an extraordinary parliament
session to take a vote on a package of power bills, which are
necessary for the liberalisation of the power market. The
government will formulate the final versions of the five bills at a
session on Tuesday.
(hina) sb rml