ZAGREB, Dec 18 (Hina) - Croatia's citizens are offered in the coming period a possibility of healing the rift which marked the last decade, and the forthcoming election is a key step on that path, said Tom Andrews, a representative of
the U.S. National Democratic Institute for international relations (NDI), at Saturday's news conference in Zagreb. Democracy is a simple formula: citizens have the might to decide which government will lead their country. It is citizens who make decisions, said Andrews who is a NDI pre-election mission member. Accentuating that Croatia has now reached the turning point and enjoyed an opportunity to show its dedication to the democratic electoral reform, Andrews told reporters about a few issues which the NDI regarded as problematic for the legitimacy of the election. The main concern for the NDI is the electoral list for the Diaspora whi
ZAGREB, Dec 18 (Hina) - Croatia's citizens are offered in the coming
period a possibility of healing the rift which marked the last
decade, and the forthcoming election is a key step on that path,
said Tom Andrews, a representative of the U.S. National Democratic
Institute for international relations (NDI), at Saturday's news
conference in Zagreb.
Democracy is a simple formula: citizens have the might to decide
which government will lead their country. It is citizens who make
decisions, said Andrews who is a NDI pre-election mission member.
Accentuating that Croatia has now reached the turning point and
enjoyed an opportunity to show its dedication to the democratic
electoral reform, Andrews told reporters about a few issues which
the NDI regarded as problematic for the legitimacy of the
election.
The main concern for the NDI is the electoral list for the Diaspora
which includes Bosnia-Herzegovina's citizens of the Croat
descent.
The possibility that the votes of people who are not citizens of
Croatia could be deciding was described by Andrews as something
that could bring the legitimacy of the election into question. He
assessed that the voting of the Diaspora, i.e. Bosnian Croats,
would lessen the value of ballots cast by voters who live in
Croatia.
Another burning issue for the NDI is the cut of the number of seats
for Serb minority deputies from three to one at the National Sabor,
and he viewed it as an injustice done to the 290,000-strong Serb
minority and as a step toward Croatian Serbs' political
marginalisation.
?he NDI representative complained about unequal coverage of
political parties by the state media, and impossibility for
political parties and associations to have voters' registers
available.
Andrews also pointed to positive steps such as the constitution of
the Ethics Commission, the set-up of multiparty electoral
commissions and greater transparency of the work of the State
Electoral Commission.
Concluding that the ability of Croatia to move forward in its
democratic transition process and integration in Europe would much
depend on the conduct of this parliamentary election, the NDI said
it would base its remarks and assessments on its long-standing
presence in Croatia and a review of reports of other international
organisations involved in the electoral process in Croatia.
The NDI is the Washington-based U.S. non-governmental
organisation, which works on democracy promotion, monitoring of
elections and stimulation of citizens to take active part in such
processes. In Croatia, the NDI has been present since 1995. So far
it has sponsored over 80 pre-election missions in the world.
(hina) ms