ZAGREB, March 1 (Hina) - Lists of candidates of thirty eight political parties and seven independent lists had been submitted for elections into the Croatian Parliament House of Counties in the set time-limit, president of the
Croatian electoral Commission, Ivan Mrkonjic, told reporters at Saturday's news conference.
FOR UPPER HOUSE
ZAGREB, March 1 (Hina) - Lists of candidates of thirty eight political
parties and seven independent lists had been submitted for elections into
the Croatian Parliament House of Counties in the set time-limit, president
of the Croatian electoral Commission, Ivan Mrkonjic, told reporters at
Saturday's news conference. #L#
A total of 125 independent party lists, seven independent and 93
coalition lists had been registered for the elections into the Upper House,
Mrkonjic said.
The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) submitted 20 independent and one
coalition list of candidates, the Croatian Peasants' Party (HSS) and the
Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS) both submitted five independent and 16
coalition lists, and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) submitted two
independent and 18 coalition lists for the Upper House.
Reporters were handed a 200-page list of all lists of candidates.
Mrkonjic said that the deadline for complaints and appeals to the
Croatian Constitutional Court had not yet expired, so there was a
possibility that the lists be changed.
According to Mrkonjic, there were 537 town and municipal electoral
commissions in Croatia, 2,677 electoral units and about 7,300 polling
stations, whose exact number would be known soon.
Under Croatian laws, there should be 27 electoral commissions and 120
electoral units in the Croatian Danubian area.
Speaking about elections in eastern Slavonia, Baranja and western
Srijem, Mrkonjic said it was not yet clear whether Transitional
Administrator General Klein would call local elections for the Danubian area
or not. If he will, the Electoral Commission proposed that he call them as
soon as possible so that there would be sufficient time for pre-election
activities.
If General Klein did not call local elections in the UNTAES-
administered area within the legal time-limit, 13 March, they would be held
in line with pre-election time-limits in the rest of Croatia, Mrkonjic said.
So far, nobody from the Serb side in the Danubian area had submitted
his candidature, Mrkonjic said.
The elections in the UNTAES-administered area will be run by three-
member commissions which will be formed by General Klein. The commissions
would consist of representatives of Serbs, Croatians and other national
minorities in the Croatian Danubian area, Mrkonjic said.
He conveyed a UNTAES assessment that elections would be difficult to
organize and ensure in the Croatian Danubian area because there was not
enough adequate space, and in some placed there was no electricity. Despite
that, UNTAES had to ensure conditions for the elections, Mrkonjic said.
Speaking of the media coverage of the elections, he said that the
Electoral Commission accepted Croatian television's schedule regulations for
the elections, according to which every party and independent list running
at the county level would have a ten-minute time-slot for every county for
which it is running as candidate, and there would be a possibility for
parties with fewer counties to receive additional five minutes to present
themselves.
Explaining the ways for students to vote, Mrkonjic said that they
could vote in their place of study, besides in their home town. In case of
voting in their place of study, they had to register on lists of voters
earlier and they are to vote for the representative body of the place of
study, not their home town.
(hina) lm
011618 MET mar 97