ZAGREB, July 10 (Hina) - The House of Representatives' Committee on the Constitution on Monday unanimously supported a draft decision according to which parliament will at its extraordinary session this week initiate a procedure for
adopting changes to the Constitution, whose draft should be made by autumn. Vladimir Seks, president of the opposition Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) bench, supported changes to the Constitution with which the ruling coalition wants to reduce the powers of the President of the State. "I agree that the semi-presidential system belonged to one epoch and that it should be replaced by the parliamentary system," Seks said, expressing hope that other HDZ members would share his opinion. According to the current Constitution, the Government answers both to the Parliament and the President of the State, whereas according to the announced changes, it would answer exclusively to the Parliame
ZAGREB, July 10 (Hina) - The House of Representatives' Committee on
the Constitution on Monday unanimously supported a draft decision
according to which parliament will at its extraordinary session
this week initiate a procedure for adopting changes to the
Constitution, whose draft should be made by autumn.
Vladimir Seks, president of the opposition Croatian Democratic
Union (HDZ) bench, supported changes to the Constitution with which
the ruling coalition wants to reduce the powers of the President of
the State.
"I agree that the semi-presidential system belonged to one epoch
and that it should be replaced by the parliamentary system," Seks
said, expressing hope that other HDZ members would share his
opinion.
According to the current Constitution, the Government answers both
to the Parliament and the President of the State, whereas according
to the announced changes, it would answer exclusively to the
Parliament.
The ruling coalition and President Stipe Mesic have already reached
an agreement on the main guidelines of constitutional changes.
The votes of 101 out of 150 deputies at the House of Representatives
(two thirds) are necessary for the adoption of constitutional
changes.
The ruling coalition, which has 95 deputies, is counting on the
support of five minority deputies and three deputies of the
Democratic Centre (DC), a party formed by several leading HDZ
officials after they left the HDZ. If the HDZ supports changes to
the Constitution, they could be adopted by a parliamentary
consensus of the majority of parties.
Reducing presidential powers, which the late Croatian President
Franjo Tudjman used for concentrating power, was one of the main
pre-election promises of the ruling coalition.
HDZ president Ivo Sanader told reporters today the content of
constitutional changes was not clear from the draft decision on
initiating the procedure of adopting constitutional changes and
his party could therefore have reservations toward the draft
changes. The HDZ supports changes to the Constitution and the
change of the political system from the semi-presidential into the
parliamentary one, but not at the cost of excluding the HDZ and
other opposition parties from the process of drawing up those
changes, Sanader said.
(hina) jn rml