ELECTIONS HELD IN LINE WITH CRO LAWS, IN PEACE AND ORDER -- DEGN

ZAGREB, Jan 4 (Hina) - Parliamentary elections in Croatia were held in line with Croatian laws and passed in peace and order, with Croatia achieving significant progress towards fulfilling obligations it has as a member of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly chairwoman Helle Degn said in Zagreb Wednesday. It is our joint stance that the elections were held in a peaceful and orderly manner, in line with Croatian laws, Degn told a news conference of international electoral observers. Croatia has achieved significant progress to fulfilling obligations it has as a member of the OSCE and the Council of Europe, Degn said, particularly stressing progress achieved in the increased number of voters which cast their ballots Monday in the elections for the Croatian National Parliament House of Representatives. The very high turnout of voters of 77 per cent is great progress in relation to the last elections, which is a reason for exceptional satisfaction, Degn said. This is an indicator of the trust of voters in the electoral process, which is a very important achievement in the process of further democratisation of Croatia, she said. She also stressed as very good the presence of domestic observers, especially in controlling the counting of votes, and applauded the fact that representatives of non-government organisations had also taken part in the supervision of elections. There were 680 international observers, but, thanks to domestic monitors and non-government organisations, more than 6,000 observers followed the voting process in 6,502 polling stations, Degn said. However, she stressed, there were some other important issues hindering Croatia's democratic progress. Primarily these are certain laws or parts of a law (electoral law, the law on statehood, on minority representation), the bias of the media, participation of parties in the work of electoral commissions, the accuracy and clarity of lists of voters, and the financing of electoral campaigns. Both the OSCE and the Council of Europe are prepared to continue discussing these issues with the new government and parliament, Degn said, expressing hope Croatia would this way move even closer to European standards. A representative of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, Daniel Goulet, called the parliamentary elections in Croatia as a historic day for the country. We established there had practically been no major incidents and it is evident that Croatia has now become a democratic country, Goulet said. Head of the OSCE/ODIHR observer mission Nikolai Vulcanov said the high turnout of voters was not a surprise, because upon his arrival in Croatia, he had realised the Croatian people were convinced that these elections could be crucial for the future of the country. Vulcanov pointed out that in Bosnia-Herzegovina, during the two days in which voting for the Croatian National Parliament House of Representatives took place, more than 100,000 voters cast their ballots at 29 polling stations. Using a simple mathematical operation we come to the conclusion that more than 1,500 people voted at every polling station in one day, which is little possible, he stressed. Asked what he wished to say, Vulcanov told reporters, I wish to say that it is calculated that every voter had seven seconds in which to complete the voting. (hina) lml mm