ZAGREB, Oct 10 (Hina) - The chairman of the parliamentary Committee on the Constitution, Rule Book and Political System, Mato Arlovic, has again dismissed claims the bill on changes to the Referendum Law ignores and negates more than
400,000 signatures collected in a petition of the national headquarters for the protection of Homeland War values. The headquarters forwarded the petition demanding a referendum at which citizens should decide about equating the legal treatment of Croatian war veterans with that applied to the members of the anti-fascist coalition after World War II. The proposed changes cannot annul the collected signatures because it will not be possible to apply them retroactively, Arlovic said during a parliamentary debate on the final bill on changes to the Referendum Law on Wednesday. Arlovic said the existing law was being harmonised with the constitutional changes adopted late last year, when a regula
ZAGREB, Oct 10 (Hina) - The chairman of the parliamentary Committee
on the Constitution, Rule Book and Political System, Mato Arlovic,
has again dismissed claims the bill on changes to the Referendum Law
ignores and negates more than 400,000 signatures collected in a
petition of the national headquarters for the protection of
Homeland War values.
The headquarters forwarded the petition demanding a referendum at
which citizens should decide about equating the legal treatment of
Croatian war veterans with that applied to the members of the anti-
fascist coalition after World War II.
The proposed changes cannot annul the collected signatures because
it will not be possible to apply them retroactively, Arlovic said
during a parliamentary debate on the final bill on changes to the
Referendum Law on Wednesday.
Arlovic said the existing law was being harmonised with the
constitutional changes adopted late last year, when a regulation
under which a referendum must be called if requested by at least 10%
of the electorate was included in the Constitution.
The bill was strongly opposed by the Croatian Democratic Union's
whip Vladimir Seks, who said conditions for calling a referendum
were almost impossible to meet.
He also objected to the regulation under which the Committee on the
Constitution would have the authority to assess the
constitutionality of the referendum question and the legality of
the procedure of signature-collecting. Seks believes another
objectionable regulation is the one under which only citizens with
a minimum year-long residence in Croatia would have the right to
sign a request and vote in a referendum.
This regulation was welcomed by Damir Kajin of the Istrian
Democratic Assembly, who reiterated that the Croat Diaspora should
not be entitled to vote in Croatia.
However, the IDS will not endorse the changes because the set
deadline for the collection of 400,000 signatures is too short.
Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS), Social Democratic Party
(SDP) and Croatian Peasants' Party (HSS) deputies will endorse the
proposed changes to the Referendum Law.
(hina) sb rml