ZAGREB, April 12 (Hina) - Representatives of an expert group which motioned basic principles of the future Croatian electoral law, hold that the adoption of the model was an opportunity for Croatia to obtain a permanent electoral law
which would not be formed on the interests of any particular political party. "This is an opportunity to form a democratic, stable electoral legislation," a member of the expert group, Smiljko Sokol, said at Monday's round-table conference focusing on the future electoral law organised by the Croatian Democracy and Social Justice Movement, the Citizens Organise to Observe Voting (GONG), Transition to Democracy and the Croatian Legal Centre. Sokol said he believed the meaning of electoral laws was being mystified and overrated, because it was believed that the election results for parties can be influenced by election engineering. "This is not correct," he stresse
ZAGREB, April 12 (Hina) - Representatives of an expert group which
motioned basic principles of the future Croatian electoral law,
hold that the adoption of the model was an opportunity for Croatia
to obtain a permanent electoral law which would not be formed on the
interests of any particular political party.
"This is an opportunity to form a democratic, stable electoral
legislation," a member of the expert group, Smiljko Sokol, said at
Monday's round-table conference focusing on the future electoral
law organised by the Croatian Democracy and Social Justice
Movement, the Citizens Organise to Observe Voting (GONG),
Transition to Democracy and the Croatian Legal Centre.
Sokol said he believed the meaning of electoral laws was being
mystified and overrated, because it was believed that the election
results for parties can be influenced by election engineering.
"This is not correct," he stressed.
Explaining the suggestion about ten electoral units in which an
equal number of representatives are voted for, Sokol said this
prevented manipulation in the design of electoral units.
Mirjana Kasapovic, also one of the authors of the motioned model,
said the mooted electoral law can maximise the mandates of parties
which do not have an evenly distributed electoral body.
Speaking about the election of representatives of the diaspora, she
mooted the formation of an eleventh electoral unit in which
representatives would be voted for under an "unfixed quota which
would be ascertained after the elections".
"If, for example, 25,000 votes are necessary for the election of a
representative in Croatia, the same number will be needed in the
electoral unit for the diaspora. If 120,000 people vote in the
eleventh unit, then, according to the quota, four representatives
would be chosen," she explained.
During a discussion on the motion, there were some of the opinion
that a system of proportional representation with one electoral
unit and a prohibition rate would be fairer, and the model mooted by
the expert group mostly favoured two largest parties.
Representatives of the ruling party and the Opposition will on
April 15 begin negotiations on the future electoral law based on the
model as presented by the group of experts.
(hina) lml jn