HDZ & OPPOSITION SIX PRESENT AGREEMENT ON NEW ELECTORAL LAW

ZAGREB, May 25 (Hina) - After several hours of adjusting, Croatia's ruling Croatian Democratic union (HDZ) and a group of six opposition parties on Tuesday presented a final, 11-item text of an agreement on the basic principles of Croatia's future electoral law. The coordinator of the Opposition Six group, Luka Trconic, assessed the agreement as significant for the future development of democracy. A good move and a significant step forward have been done, and both will be welcomed by the international community as well, he told reporters. The 11-item agreement says a proportionate electoral system with ten electoral units, nine in Croatia and one for Croatian citizens living abroad, will be applied for the election of representatives for the parliament's Lower House. Croatian citizens not residing in Croatia would exert their electoral right in a separate, tenth electoral unit, via a so called unfixed quota, according to which the number of Diaspora representatives would depend on the number of Diaspora voters. The agreement points out electoral units should be composed so as to respect the extant administrative-territorial borders of counties, towns, and municipalities. In determining the nine electoral units in Croatia, attention must be paid to have an approximately identical number of voters in each. A law on electoral units should be passed simultaneously with the electoral law and the amendments to the Law on Croatian Radio-Television (HRT). For promotion, parties would receive an annual amount from the state budget, and would also have the right to ensure self- financing up to DM500,000. Both the HDZ and the Opposition Six agree it is necessary to effect changes to the extant HRT law to completely transform Croatian Television into a public one. A bill to that end will be drafted via consensus by a working group composed of three representatives per each side. Today's agreement also confirms the agreement among all parties that the bodies implementing the elections, Croatia's Electoral Commission, electoral units' electoral commissions, and voters' committees, should be multiparty bodies. The HDZ and the Opposition Six also agreed about a uniform electoral threshold of five percent. Voters lists will have to be submitted to the public and political parties at least three months prior to election day, while the electoral law should be passed four months prior to election day. The agreement also includes the Opposition Six's insisting to have the elections scheduled before the beginning of December. The HDZ will try to reach a consensus with regard to the exact election date. As regards the representation of national minorities, both sides stick to their previous motions. Both sides promised they would advocate solutions which will not jeopardise the consensus reached in principle while drafting solutions to concrete issues related to the electoral and other laws which will be passed simultaneously. The consensus on basic principles for the electoral legislation will be considered as fully reached and implemented when the electoral legislation has been passed, including amendments to the HRT law formulated on the basis of the consensus and the principles from the agreement. Responding to reporters, the signatories to the agreement said the number of representatives which would be elected in electoral units had not been determined yet. The Opposition Six includes the Croatian Peasants' Party, the Social Democratic Party, the Croatian Social Liberal Party, the Liberal party, the Istrian Democratic Assembly, and the Croatian People's Party. (hina) ha jn