MORITZ CONTINUES TO GATHER SIGNATURES FOR PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDACY

ZAGREB, Jan 10 (Hina) - Rikard Moritz, presidential candidate for the POL (Movement for human rights and parties of ecologically conscientious citizens) is holding a hunger strike in Zagreb's Importanne shopping centre Monday and is continuing to gather the signatures of citizens to support him as a presidential candidate in the upcoming elections. On the final day of submission of presidential candidacies, the Croatian National Electoral Commission established that Moritz was 1,808 signatures short of the necessary 10,000 in order for his candidacy to be valid. Moritz is thus asking of the Electoral Commission to reopen the deadline for submitting presidential candidacies until January 22, the day of media ban. Moritz has been on a hunger strike since December 30, 1999 because of, he claims, "the robbery of time and property". This is his third hunger strike he has been on. His first was in 1998 because the "Sutla" savings bank went bankrupt. His second hunger strike was on September 16, 1999 because of the silence of the Constitutional Court. According to him, the Constitutional Court had stopped replying to requests of citizens. (hina) lml mm