GOVERNMENT DEBATES COURT RULING ON PENSIONS

( Editorial: --> 3846 ) ZAGREB, 14 May (Hina)- The Government's expert teams are presently studying the Constitutional Court's ruling on annulment of the law on the adjustment of pensions. Once the expertise is completed the issues will be put up for discussion by the Parliament, Prime Minister Zlatko Matesa said on Thursday, after the Government's session. On 12 May, the Government's decrees on indexing pensions according to the cost of living, rather than to the median salary, were ruled unconstitutional. The decrees also indefinitely extended temporary limitation of pensions from 1993 and 1994. When asked to comment on the call by the SDP for resignation of the Government, following the ruling by the Constitutional Court, Matesa described it as a phenomenon common to all democracies. This is not the first time that someone asked for resignation of the Government or some of its members, Matesa said. Speaking about the contentious law, Matesa said it had been passed with the Constitutional Court's consent. He refused to comment on the Court's ruling because, as he put it, it was not up to the Prime Minister to comment on the Constitutional Court's ruling. The Government will analyse the ruling and try to determine its possible effects, Matesa said. As far as financial consequences are concerned, the Government will not do anything that could jeopardise the country's economic and financial stability, Matesa said. (hina) jn mr/mrb 142119 MET may 98