PARTIES TO BOYCOTT UPPER HOUSE SESSION CONVENED ON SUMMIT DAY

ZAGREB, Nov 23 (Hina) - Deputies of three parties, SDP, HSS, and DC, said on Thursday they would boycott tomorrow's session of parliament's House of Counties, convened to discuss the goals and intentions of the Zagreb Summit on Summit day. Speaking on behalf of SDP (Social Democratic Party), the strongest in the ruling coalition, Ratko Maricic said the party considered tomorrow's session "an invitation to a press conference of the HDZ." HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union), the opposition party with the majority of seats in the upper house, objects to the holding of the Zagreb Summit, claiming it pushes Croatia back into the Balkans. Maricic said the deputies of the other five parties making the ruling coalition most probably would not attend the session either. "We haven't been supplied with even the most basic material for the session, we don't know which 15 deputies convened the session. The practice thus far has been for the House of Counties not to discuss topics which are not on the agenda of the House of Representatives, but the practice is changing according to the needs of HDZ and not Croatian interests," said Maricic. Upper house president Katica Ivanisevic refuted claims that the house did not discuss topics which were not on the lower house agenda. The House of Counties has initiative and a session about amendments to the constitution was convened similarly, she said. Ivanisevic told reporters she had notified both the president of the republic and the prime minister about the topic of tomorrow's session, but was not sure if either would attend. Asked if she could have convened the session after the Summit, Ivanisevic said that under the Rule Book, she was bound to convene a session for the day suggested by deputies, and produced a list of signatures of the 15 who urged her to convene the session. (hina) ha jn