SIMONOVIC INFORMS UN OF PREPARATIONS FOR GENERAL ELECTION

NEW YORK, Nov 29 (Hina) - Following the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia, Croatia and some other countries in Southeast Europe were faced with aggression and its consequences, which affected the development of their democracies, Croatia's permanent representative at the U.N., Ivan Simonovic, said on Monday. Simonovic was speaking at the 54th session of the U.N. General Assembly within a debate on how to assist governments in strengthening and promoting new and restored democracies. According to Simonovic, Croatia is preparing for active participation in the upcoming international conference on the priorities and directions of the democratic development of countries with newly-established democracy. Simonovic spoke about Croatia's preparations for the elections for the Croatian Parliament's House of Representatives in January next year. He reminded that the upcoming elections were the first general elections since Croatia established full control over its entire territory. "...from the perspective of the development of democracy, these elections are not a drama, but a major step forward in enriching our experience," he said. "What all democracies share - and what we in new or restored democracies are slowly getting used to - is that whoever wins the elections, wins them conditionally (in the sense of limitations arising from the rule of law) and temporarily (until the next elections when everybody has a chance to win again)." (hina) mm rml