CROATIAN PARLIAMENT IN SESSION

ZAGREB, Oct 10 (Hina) - The Croatian parliament commenced its 17th session on Wednesday morning with remembering an important date in Croatia's history - October 8, 1991 - when the Sabor made the final decision on the complete severance of all the state and legal links with the then Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). The decision, taken in dramatic circumstance when Croatia was exposed to the aggression, wrapped up the successful parliamentary struggle for Croatia's independence. A more difficult struggle - the Homeland Defence War - would take the following four years, marked with the suffering, sacrifices and destruction, Sabor Speaker Zlatko Tomcic, said at the start of the session. After that, MPs observed a minute of silence for those who gave their lives for the independent Croatia. The Sabor then adopted an agenda with over 40 items. Two of those items are a final health insurance bill and a discussion on the reform in public health. During the three-week-long sitting, MPs will address several economic issues such as an analysis of the state-run portfolio and results of the privatisation. MPs will consider a draft act on defence in its first reading and the government's request for being stripped of the right to regulate some issues, which are within the parliament's competence, by decrees. (hina) ms