ELECTORAL BILL DOESN'T REPRESENT 'ELECTORAL ENGINEERING' - SEKS

ZAGREB, Oct 28 (Hina) - The president of the parliamentary bench of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) on Thursday rejected claims by opposition representatives that the final bill on electoral units represented "electoral engineering." The bill is consistent with the principles established by a team of experts, and with the oral and written agreement the HDZ has made with the Opposition Six party group, HDZ's Vladimir Seks told the parliament's House of Representatives during today's debate on the bill. Addressing criticism on the division of Zagreb into four electoral units, Seks said it had been agreed with the Opposition Six not to touch the borders of towns and municipalities, except the capital's due to its high number of voters. There had been no agreement however on how many electoral units the capital would be divided into, he added. Seks countered criticism for the "cutting of electoral units" by pointing out that 17 counties had remained intact. National minority lists will depend on the wishes of the minorities, Seks said, and called on opposition parties to put minority representatives on top of party lists if they would like to increase their number from the suggested five. The HDZ will do the same with the young and women, he said. Addressing remarks that voters' lists had not been submitted yet, Seks said the bill included lists of voters by electoral unit. The demand that voters be named is unfounded, he added. The ruling party's representative also touched upon today's repeated reference to a statement the President of the Republic had made to the foreign press. Seks called on the presidents of Opposition Six parties to clearly state whether they would recognise the victory of the HDZ at the upcoming parliamentary elections, as, he reminded, they had publicly asked President Tudjman. (hina) ha mm