17-MEMBER JURY TO MAKE FINAL DECISION ON MISS CROATIA

ZAGREB, Oct 22 (Hina) - The ongoing debate about the annulled vote in the recent Miss Croatia pageant should enter its final stage in TV coverage of a secret vote by a 17-member jury. Although the owners of the Miss World licence have confirmed that Miss Croatia title should go to Ivana Petkovic and not Lejla Sehovic, the live broadcast of the jury vote should remove all doubts as to the regularity of the voting procedure and motives standing behind the annulment of the vote held on October 11. Lejla Sehovic was pronounced Miss Croatia and Ivana Petkovic the first runner-up at the October 11 pageant. However, due to the later discovered irregularities in the voting and vote-counting procedure, Miss Croatia pageant director Milan Seckovic on October 16 annulled the vote and pronounced the first runner-up Ivana Petkovic Miss Croatia, while Lejla Sehovic was pronounced the first runner-up. There is no doubt that, according to the regulations applied by Seckovic, Ivana Petkovic is Miss Croatia, Eric Morley, president of the Miss World group which has the Miss World licence, told Croatian Radio Television. Although the procedure Seckovic applied to rectify the mistake is technically correct, it still leaves room for speculation, Morley said. Therefore, he had advised Seckovic to establish a 17-member jury, which would decide the winner of the beauty pageant by a secret vote. According to Morley, Seckovic accepted his recommendation. Morley also suggested that the vote be broadcast live on TV so that the whole country could follow the voting procedure. The decision made by the jury would then be final. The owners of the licence for the Miss World pageant do not have the authority over the way a country conducts the beauty show as long as it is conducted in line with the regulations. The licence is taken away if certain irregularities are established. There were no such irregularities in the procedure applied by Seckovic, Morley said. (hina) jn rml,