ZAGREB, Oct 17 (Hina) - The Croatian parliament decided on Friday to dissolve, whereby the fourth parliament since Croatia gained independence over a decade ago ended its four-year term.
ZAGREB, Oct 17 (Hina) - The Croatian parliament decided on Friday to
dissolve, whereby the fourth parliament since Croatia gained
independence over a decade ago ended its four-year term. #L#
This parliament was constituted on 2 February 2000. The next
parliamentary elections will be held on November 23. Croatian
President Stjepan Mesic has announced that he will make public his
decision on calling the next parliamentary election on Monday.
The decision on the dissolution of parliament becomes effective
today.
According to statistics on the work of the fourth parliament, MPs
discussed about 1,330 items on the agenda during 336 working days.
Of those items, 623 were laws adopted under urgent procedure. In
addition, 39 percent of laws were passed unanimously, and they
referred mostly to issues from a package of laws to be adjusted to
European Union standards.
Parliamentarians adopted 472 decisions and nearly 200 declarations
and resolutions, including the Declaration on the Homeland Defence
War.
This parliament ratified the Stabilisation and Association
Agreement, signed between Croatia and the European Union, and held
first parliamentary debates on indictments which the Hague-based
UN war crimes tribunal (ICTY) issued against Croatian nationals
with regard to events in the Homeland Defence War.
This Sabor voted for constitutional amendments which introduced
the parliamentary system in Croatia instead of the previous semi-
presidential one.
The constitutional changes also abolished the upper house, the
House of Counties, in spring 2001, so that the parliament became
unicameral after having functioned as a bicameral parliament for
eight years.
The fourth parliament created legal frameworks for the adoption of
European standards, but its work was to a considerable extent
marked by debates on cooperation between Zagreb and the UN
tribunal.
Indictments issued by the tribunal against generals Ante Gotovina,
Rahim Ademi and Janko Bobetko were major challenges for this
parliament and the government led by Prime Minister Ivica Racan and
the ruling coalition.
The parliamentary discussion on the indictments, held in July 2001,
triggered off serious rows among the then two leading parties in the
ruling coalition, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Social
Liberal Party (HSLS).
In 2002, a parliamentary debate on the ratification of an agreement
with Slovenia on the jointly-owned nuclear power plant in Krsko
deepened the divisions between the HSLS and the rest of the ruling
coalition parties. HSLS MPs later went over to the opposition, and
some of its deputies left to form a new political party called
Libra.
Divisions inside parliamentary political parties was one of the
specific features of this Sabor.
After being the strongest parliamentary party for one decade, the
Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) lost parliamentary elections in
2000 and became an opposition party. The number of seats which it
held in the last parliament was reduced from 46 to 33. Among the
first to leave the HDZ were Mate Granic (a former foreign minister)
and Vesna Skare Ozbolt, who established the Democratic Centre (DC).
After that, Zlatko Canjuga left the HDZ to join the Croatian
Independent Democrats (HND), led by Josip Manolic. Another former
senior official in the HDZ, Ivic Pasalic, formed the Croatian Bloc
(HB) party. Another two former HDZ deputies, Dario Vukic and Ante
Beljo, recently joined a non-parliamentary party, the Croatian
True Revival (HIP). As a result, the HIP became a parliamentary
party, too.
(hina) ms sb