Croatia: Flawed Vinkovici Local Elections
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Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 12:34:55 +0200 (EET)
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Subject: Croatia: Flawed Vinkovici Local Elections
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: Panayote Elias Dimitras <[email protected]>
Croatia: Flawed Vinkovici Local Elections
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_____________________________________
Zagreb, January 20, 1999
STATEMENT No. 87
Within the Croatian Helsinki Committee's activities for monitoring
elections in the Republic of Croatia, the Croatian Helsinki Committee
for Human Rights (CHC) sent its monitors to the town of Vinkovci where
the local elections started on January 11th and would last until
January 22. By examining the decision of the Vinkovici City Council it
has been established that the elections are being carried out contrary
to the decision of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia - by
the so called public voting. As a result of such a way of voting, the
HDZ became the absolute winner of the elections. The voters refused to
come out to the voting stations and in such a way showed their
disagreement regarding the manner in which the electoral procedure
related to elections of their representatives to the local
self-governing bodies was being carried out. At the elections held on
January 11th for the Council of the Local Committee of "Lenija" only
41 out of 2.480 registered persons approached the voting stations in
order to vote. (This means only 1.65% of voters).
The CHC wishes to draw attention of the public to the fact that such
electoral procedure is a direct violation of the provision of article
45 of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia which says in its
item II that the "voting right shall be exercised through direct
elections by secret ballot". Furthermore, article 12 of the Law on
the Elections of Members for the Representative Bodies of the Units of
the Local Governments and Self-Governments, states that "freedom to
choose and the secret ballot" is guaranteed (Item I), and nobody has
the right to demand that the voter reveal his/her voting decision"
(Item III).
All opposition parties, except the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP),
which is the HDZ's satellite party, boycotted the elections and
submitted the request to the Constitutional Court of the Republic of
Croatia to question the legality of this electoral procedure.
The CHC is convinced that the Constitutional Court, in accordance with
its provisions, will annul the results of the elections in Vinkovci.
We would like to emphasize that if such electoral procedure,
regardless of the level at which it was being carried out, was allowed
it could become a precedent on the basis of which other elections
would be organized in the Republic of Croatia.
Vjekoslav Vidovic
CHC President
_______________________________________
Greek Helsinki Monitor &
Minority Rights Group - Greece
P.O. Box 51393
GR-14510 Kifisia
Greece
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