CACIC: HDZ'S DRAFT ELECTION BILL DIFFERS SIGNIFICANTLY FROM HDZ- OPPOSITION AGREEMENT

ZAGREB, June 2 (Hina) - The draft election bill proposed by the head of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) parliamentary bench, Vladimir Seks, contains significant departures from a recent agreement between the HDZ and the Opposition Six, the new coordinator for the Opposition Six, Radimir Cacic, said in Zagreb on Wednesday. The Opposition Six - the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS), Croatian People's Party (HNS), Croatian Peasants' Party (HSS), Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS) and the Liberal Party (LS) - has a number of objections to the draft election bill, Cacic said after today's meeting of the Opposition, which lasted several hours. The Opposition Six coordinator expressed doubt that the election law would be adopted by summer. He said he would suggest to Seks, as the chief negotiator for the HDZ, to meet again next Wednesday instead of Monday, as had been announced previously. Objections of the Opposition Six to the draft election bill concern models of transforming votes into parliamentary mandates in the electoral unit for Croatian citizens who do not have permanent residence in Croatia, as well as control mechanisms, the legal and the real election threshold etc. Cacic particularly objects to the fact that the HDZ draft in no way takes into consideration that the consensus on the election law will be possible only after some other crucial issues have been resolved, the main one being the transformation of Croatian Radio Television (HRT) into a public television. In this context Cacic also mentioned the law on electoral units and the election date. The Opposition will continue to insist on these questions, he added. The Opposition has nominated Mato Arlovic (SDP), Djurdja Adlesic (HSLS) and Bozo Kovacevic (LS) its representatives in a working group to draw up changes to the Law on HRT. According to Cacic, the Opposition Six has its own proposal regarding the election of minority parliamentary representatives. This applies not only to the election of Serb, but also of Bosniak and Slovene MPs. The number of MPs to be elected in nine electoral units in Croatia will be discussed further, Cacic said, adding there was a belief among the Opposition that each electoral unit should elect 14 representatives (the HDZ suggests 12). "Very unfair" was how Cacic described a proposal by the HDZ that the number of votes necessary for the election of one Diaspora representative be calculated in proportion to the number of votes in the electoral unit with the lowest turnout. Cacic believes an average turnout rate on the state level would be the only reasonable solution. He described a proposal by Anto Djapic (Croatian Party of Rights, HSP) on the postal ballot for the Diaspora as completely unacceptable. It is out of the question, the Opposition will not accept the booking of parliamentary seats nor will it accept a special Diaspora list, he added. He reiterated the Opposition's stance that the elections for the House of Representatives should be held as soon as possible due to the difficult economic situation, that is in September, October or November. The Opposition will in no way accept elections during Christmas holidays, he said. The HDZ has announced that the elections would be held between Christmas and New Year holidays. (hina) jn rml