MP KOVACEVIC OF HKDU OFFENDS MP PUSIC OF HNS

ZAGREB, Oct 12 (Hina) - Friday's session of the Croatian parliament has been interrupted due to the insults said on the account of representative Vesna Pusic of the Croatian People's Party. Anto Kovacevic of the Croatian Christian Democratic Union (HKDU) said Pusic "was made for bed and not to think with her head." In a discussion on stripping the immunity of Ante Djapic of the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) for suspicion of having copied over 60 percent of the paper for his master's degree, Kovacevic quoted writer Milan Kundera and said only one percent of the papers were originals the rest were copied. Pusic said this was a lie and an insult to all scientists, after which Kovacevic told her she was not born to think but to perform in bed. Deputy Speaker Mato Arlovic of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) did not comment on Kovacevic's statement, so Pusic demanded that a warning be given to Kovacevic. Kovacevic then pointed to her claim that he was lying, stressing it was also offensive. Arlovic warned both Kovacevic and Pusic, and after numerous requests that the session be interrupted, the chairman said this was "a minor incident, which should not be a reason for session's interruption." At the request of numerous MPs, the session was interrupted after all so that it could be determined who said what. After a half hour break, Arlovic apologised to Pusic and withdrew the warning. During the break presidents of parliamentary benches viewed the minutes and Arlovic said the minutes showed Pusic did not violate the rule book. "I thought Mrs Pusic would stop insulting me, being a Croat from Posavina (Bosnian bank of the Sava river), and the entire Croat people," said Kovacevic. Pusic told him that "hiding behind the Croat people to justify his own profanity in parliament was not appropriate and was offensive to the Croat people." The incident ended after Kovacevic received the warning and was denied the right to participate in the rest of the discussion. (hina) it sb