LOWER HOUSE MAJORITY PRO, OPPOSITION AGAINST RECONSTRUCTION BILL

ZAGREB, April 26 (Hina) - The Croatian parliament's majority on Wednesday endorsed a bill giving Croatian and Serb returnees the same right to house reconstruction. The Opposition objected to the bill, stating it was aimed at erasing the difference between the aggressor and the victim. All returnees would be entitled to the right to reconstruction, except those convicted for war crimes, says the bill on which parliament's House of Representatives did not vote today due to a lack of quorum. If adopted tomorrow, the bill will go into second reading. The bill was presented by Venko Curlin, deputy minister for public works, reconstruction and building. Curlin said that according to the bill, persons against whom court proceedings have just been initiated for crimes committed during the early 1990s war in Croatia would also be entitled to submit a request for house reconstruction. Reconstruction will cover all buildings demolished or damaged in Croatia through 15 January 1998, either in the war or as a result of consequences of the war, Curlin said. The bill equalises all Croatian citizens who own buildings, regardless of their current residence, he added. Opposition MPs believe the bill is unacceptable. According to Juraj Njavro of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), the bill is an attempt to equalise the aggressor and the victim, which he said was politically unacceptable and damaging. This is a political bill aimed at freeing the aggressor of responsibility and devaluing the Homeland War, Njavro asserted. HDZ's Jadranka Kosor said the bill's amendments were unacceptable because they denied veterans and members of their families precedence in exercising the right to reconstruction. Since buildings cannot be reconstructed at the same time, she said it was unclear who would establish precedence for reconstruction, whether the government, parliament, or the international community. Snjezana Biga-Friganovic of the Social Democratic Party said the issue of precedence for reconstruction was regulated in the law on the rights of veterans and their families. Vesna Pusic of the Croatian People's Party said the bill was not a political statement, but the first real law on the matter. HDZ's Drago Krpina said the elimination of aggression and the aggressor from the bill was an attempt to erase from the Croatian people's memory the fact that it had been attacked. Vlado Gotovac of the Liberal Party reminded he at one time objected to the fact that aggression was not mentioned in a Croatia- Yugoslavia agreement, and that sources from then ruling HDZ told him the most important thing was that Belgrade had recognised Zagreb. The Lower House continues the session tomorrow. (hina) ha jn