ZAGREB, Sept 16 (Hina) - The 32nd session of the Croatian National Sabor's House of Counties was opened with a discussion on the electoral law on Thursday. According to the president of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union's (HDZ)
parliamentary bench, Vladimir Seks, a bill on electing MPs to the Croatian National Sabor's House of Representatives reached the level of modern, democratic electoral laws of European democratic countries and should be a permanent and stabile document. The bill was drawn up in line with a proposal by the working group for the establishment of fundamental institutes of electoral legislation and is mostly based on consensus of all parliamentary parties. Parties agreed on the majority of provisions of the electoral law, from a proportionate electoral system in nine electoral units, to a separate electoral unit for the Diaspora, Seks said. The law includes the principle on multi-party compositions
ZAGREB, Sept 16 (Hina) - The 32nd session of the Croatian National
Sabor's House of Counties was opened with a discussion on the
electoral law on Thursday.
According to the president of the ruling Croatian Democratic
Union's (HDZ) parliamentary bench, Vladimir Seks, a bill on
electing MPs to the Croatian National Sabor's House of
Representatives reached the level of modern, democratic electoral
laws of European democratic countries and should be a permanent and
stabile document.
The bill was drawn up in line with a proposal by the working group
for the establishment of fundamental institutes of electoral
legislation and is mostly based on consensus of all parliamentary
parties.
Parties agreed on the majority of provisions of the electoral law,
from a proportionate electoral system in nine electoral units, to a
separate electoral unit for the Diaspora, Seks said.
The law includes the principle on multi-party compositions of
voters committees and election commissions at all levels, which
should enable multi-party control of the electoral process. Non-
government institutions would be able to monitor elections.
Seks expressed regret because not all parliamentary parties
reached consensus.
According to him, one of the most delicate issues in the bill is the
representation of national minorities. The text includes a
solution on rotating mandates, which is seriously criticised due to
doubts about constitutionality, given that MPs mandates last four
years. According to the bill, representatives of national
minorities would rotate every two years, namely every nine and a
half months.
The HDZ parliamentary bench, which proposed the bill, is aware of
the doubts and would be satisfied if better and clearer solutions
were proposed, Seks said. We should seek for a better solution in
line with the Croatian Constitution which will prevent the
outvoting of certain minorities, he stressed.
Seks presented MPs at the House of Representatives with a review of
the electoral law, conducted by the working group.
According to Seks, the working group assessed the bill as positive.
The working group believes that, with certain supplements, the
legal document could enable free and fair elections with equal
conditions for all parties.
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