DECISION ON SUSPENSIVE VETO FORWARDED TO LOWER HOUSE

ZAGREB, March 28 (Hina) - In line with a decision adopted by the House of Counties, the president of the upper house, Katica Ivanisevic, on Tuesday forwarded to Sabor Speaker Zlatko Tomcic a decision returning for reconsideration to the House of Representatives a law postponing the application of the Law on Child Allowance until the beginning of 2001. The law was adopted by the House of Representatives on March 22. According to the Rule Book, the Sabor Speaker should forward the House of Counties' decision to all MPs and competent committees of the lower house as well as to the Government, which, in turn, should submit a report to the lower house in eight days at latest. The House of Representatives adopts laws by majority vote. The House of Counties, in which the Croatian Democratic Union makes a majority, has voted on the so-called suspensive veto, refusing to accept the government's argument that the application of the new law on child allowance must be postponed because of a lack of both financial and organisational conditions. The HDZ believes that preparations for the implementation of the law could be completed in one to two months and that an additional 600 to 700 million kuna can be secured from capital budgetary revenue, i.e. from privatisation revenue. According to the Law on Child Allowance, which was to go into force on March 1 this year, the right to child allowance is granted also to the children of farmers and unemployed persons. Instead of the current 370,000 children, according to the new law, there would be about 600,000 beneficiaries, HDZ MPs believe. This is the second time the House of Counties is using the right to veto since its establishment in 1993. The upper house used the right to veto for the first time in August 1994, when it returned a law on dispossession to the lower house for reconsideration. The upper house has discussed the right to veto on 18 occasions but has so far decided on it on two occasions only. (hina) mm rml