ZAGREB, 16 June (Hina) - The special coordinator for monitoring of the Croatian presidential election, U.S. senator Paul Simon, held a press conference in Zagreb on Monday, at which he presented his estimations of Sunday's
presidential election.
HOLDS PRESS CONFERENCE
ZAGREB, 16 June (Hina) - The special coordinator for monitoring of the
Croatian presidential election, U.S. senator Paul Simon, held a press
conference in Zagreb on Monday, at which he presented his estimations of
Sunday's presidential election. #L#
"Croatia has experienced a free but not fair election. While
candidates were able to speak freely, the process leading up to the
election was fundamentally flawed. It did not meet the minimum standards
for democracies. By contrast the election itself was - with some
exceptions - conducted efficiently," Simon said in a statement he read
out at the press conference.
Speaking about inadequate coverage of activities of some
presidential candidates, especially by Croatian television, Simon said
that between 28 May and 7 June, President Franjo Tudjman appeared in the
central news broadcast 300 times more than the Social-Democratic Party
candidate Zdravko Tomac and 12 times more than the Social-Liberal Party
candidate Vladimir Gotovac.
The incumbent president would certainly always be given more time,
but such imbalance threatened the democratic process, Simon said.
The U.S. senator presented his recommendations to the Croatian
government and the people of Croatia, so that a free and fair election
could be achieved in the future.
According to Simon, "television and radio time should be carefully
balanced between the major candidates;
- the Election Commission should be composed of representatives of
the major political parties;
- eligibility for voting of those not living in Croatia should be
reviewed in line with OSCE standards and the Dayton treaty, as well as
to assure fraud-free voting and voting without ethnic bias;
- billboards paid by the government, which feature the exploits or
image of any candidate should not appear within 90 days before an
election;
- properly authenticated domestic observers should be welcomed
along with international observers;
- some balance in financial resources of the major candidates
should be attained;
- the major candidates in the next election should consider having
televised debates, a practice now followed in most democracies."
"There is a clear desire on the part of the people of Croatia to be
a more integral part of Europe. That is possible, but it is not likely
to be fully achieved unless two conditions are met: first, fully free
and fair elections; and second, a strong indication that the days of
ethnic prejudice are relics of the past," Simon said.
The coordinator of the Monitoring Mission of the Organisation for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Kare Vollan, expressed regret
over the fact that the same flaws which occurred in the April municipal
elections and in the 1995 election recurred in yesterday's presidential
election.
Asked how much those flaws had affected the election results, Simon
said that in his opinion the results would be more of less the same.
Asked whether the OSCE would exert pressure on Croatia because of
the flaws in the presidential election, Simon said that if the
government of Croatia wanted to be part of Europe and make economic
progress, it had to politically adjust to the above-mentioned
requirements.
We cannot impose those requirements, it is a decision the
government itself has to make, Simon said.
Vollan added that he personally was an optimist and believed that
the Croatian authorities would consider OSCE's remarks.
(hina) rm
162035 MET jun 97