MINISTER PANCIC PRESENTS WAR VETERANS' RIGHTS BILL

ZAGREB, Sept 27 (Hina) - The Croatian parliament continued its session on Thursday morning with a discussion on a draft bill on war veterans' rights and entitlements. Explaining the draft act, the minister in charge of war veterans, Ivica Pancic said the purpose of this new law would be the full integration of veterans in the society. He warned that the existing law had good intentions but was not adjusted to the material possibilities of the state. Besides, the valid law failed to accomplish objectives such as the housing accommodation and employment of soldiers who defended the country during the war of independence in the early 1990s. Since 1998, the state budget has not been able to ensure the funds for the disability pensions, the basis of which should be 160 percent of the monthly salary paid in the previous year, under the old law, Pancic reminded. He also pointed to the abuse of the valid legal regulations which was possible through the cumulating of the entitlements and allowances on different bases. Besides, the number of 16,000 disabled war veterans, registered in 1995, doubled in the meantime and now there are 33,000 registered disabled defenders. Therefore it is necessary to re-examine all disability allowances. Pancic refuted allegations that the new act would rescind many entitlements of the Croatian veterans. According to Pancic, three kinds of rights cannot be exercised any more: the exemption from paying taxes, the payment of compensation on the basis of the honorary commission, and advantages in receiving concession for performing construction works. Other rights are partly reduced but some are even broadened, the minister said. This morning, parliamentarians should have voted on some discussed draft acts, but the voting had to be postponed due to a lack of quorum. Sabor Speaker Zlatko Tomcic then 'admonished' absent MPs by reading out that none of the IDS and DC MPs were in the hall and that only 30 percent of the HDZ parliamentarians were present. Ivo Sanader, the HDZ President, opposed such 'disciplinary measure' of singling out absent MPs and their parties. Sanader asserted that his party's deputies were the most numerous in the Sabor hall and that they regularly took part in the parliament's work but that their proposals were blocked by the will of the ruling majority. (hina) ms