ZAGREB, Oct 19 (Hina) - Croatian President Stipe Mesic believes some amendments to the constitution are "untenable" as they reduce the status of the head of state to a "pure formality." Mesic forwarded to parliament's Committee on the
Constitution a document entitled "Opinion and Suggestions on Draft Amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia", dated Oct. 16, putting forward his remarks to the committee's amendments and suggesting that the government and president of the republic propose them together.
ZAGREB, Oct 19 (Hina) - Croatian President Stipe Mesic believes
some amendments to the constitution are "untenable" as they reduce
the status of the head of state to a "pure formality."
Mesic forwarded to parliament's Committee on the Constitution a
document entitled "Opinion and Suggestions on Draft Amendments to
the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia", dated Oct. 16,
putting forward his remarks to the committee's amendments and
suggesting that the government and president of the republic
propose them together.#L#
The main suggestions and remarks refer to the "status of the
President of the Republic of Croatia within the constitutional
order of the Republic of Croatia."
Mesic is against the "institute 'Government motion' as a condition
for performance by the chief of state or the passing of acts by the
chief of state"; against a provision on "The Report on the State of
the Nation"; and against the method of determining the
"constitutional status of the intelligence community."
According to the president, it is "illogical" that a provision
under which the Croatian president is the head of state ('drzavni
poglavar' in Croatian) should be erased from Article 94 of the
Constitution. Regardless of the unpopularity of this expression,
used over the past decade, the fact remains that it determines the
status of the president of the republic in Croatia's constitutional
order, Mesic said. He suggested that the provision be retained and
that another term should perhaps be found.
Moreover, the draft amendments exclude from Article 94, Subsection
2 the president's duty to "see to it that the Constitution is
respected."
Mesic says this is a "power of outstanding importance, which
presidents of state have even in parliamentary systems of rule.
Considering the constitutional position of the President of the
Republic of Croatia, the exclusion of that provision actually
strips the President... of the constitutional basis from which he
most draws the right to supervise the performance and stability of
the state authority, including the intelligence and security
community. That part of the provision should unconditionally be
returned to Article 94, Subsection 2 of the Constitution, which in
that case would read: 'The President of the Republic sees to it that
the Constitution is respected, to a regular and harmonised
performance and stability of the state authority'."
Mesic further says the draft constitutional amendments reduce the
president's authorities due to an amassing of co-signatures and the
need of previous consent from the prime minister and parliamentary
speaker in connection with the establishment of diplomatic
agencies, appointing and recalling ambassadors, dissolving
parliament, and passing decrees with legal power.
According to Mesic, passing acts at the government's or prime
minister's motion, and the obligation that they be co-signed by the
PM, subject the president's acts to a form of previous control.
Mesic points to the possibility of abusing such control mechanisms,
to the legal "inadmissibility" and "untenability" of proposed
solutions which turn the status of the head of state into a pure
formality, "without any actual powers." "The cumulating of control
mechanisms is inadmissible. We should stick with the institution of
'co-signature', as in all other countries with some form of
parliamentary rule."
According to Mesic, it is also inadmissible that only at the
government's motion, the president of the republic may ratify
international contracts which need no ratification in parliament's
House of Representatives. "Besides being legally unfounded, this
provision is also politically untenable, because it is the
President... who represents the country abroad. The President...
has to have an original constitutional power to sign international
contracts, all in line with and within boundaries set by the law."
Mesic believes the constitutional amendments should discontinue
the institute "Report on the State of the Nation". According to the
amendments, the president should write the report in collaboration
with the PM. Mesic, however, thinks this is "impractical." Since it
is compiled by two, who gets criticised for the report, he wonders.
"The provision cannot be defended from a legal point of view," says
Mesic.
The president further believes "the status of intelligence
services is not a constitutional issue (because) not one democratic
country's constitution contains provisions on intelligence
services."
Mesic believes "the final solution to (the supervision of
intelligence services) - on the level of the constitution's text -
is a matter of political agreement."
(hina) ha jn