PARLIAMENT ON TEMPORARY MANAGEMENT OF ABANDONED PROPERTY

( Editorial: --> 3945 ) ZAGREB, 14 May (Hina)- The House of Representatives has completed a debate of bills on annulment of laws on temporary take-over and management of abandoned property and leasing of flats in the liberated areas. The laws on take-over and management of abandoned property was passed as a measure for protection of property of persons who had left Croatia. Considering that it has fulfilled its purpose, the Government now proposes the laws' annulment, Deputy Minister of Reconstruction and Development, Stjepan Sterc, said. During the debate most MPs asked what would be the consequences of the laws' annulment. Opposition MPs are most incensed by the Government's annulment of the laws that the Opposition opposed before their passing. They also criticised the Government for annulling the laws under international pressure. The MPs asked what was the Government planning to do with temporary tenants and how will it compensate them for investments they made into houses an flats they have been occupying to date. In his answers, Sterc stressed that the Government had already passed a programme for accommodation of temporary tenants in October 1997. Explaining that tenancy rights should not be confused with property rights and that the latter should not be confused with the right of use, Sterc claimed that the Government has never passed an act violating property rights. (hina) jn mr/mrb 142032 MET may 98