Croatian local elections generally in line with international election standards

ZAGREB, 21 May 2001 (OSCE) - Yesterday's local government elections in Croatia were conducted generally in accordance with international standards for democratic elections, concluded the International Election Observation Mission in a statement issued in Zagreb today.

"The overall positive assessment of these elections confirms the improvements we noted during last year's parliamentary and presidential elections", said Mark Stevens, the Head of the Observation Mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR). "Unfortunately, a number of shortcomings remain, some of which were already highlighted during past elections."

The international observers noted that the new Election Law generally provides for democratic elections, though the late adoption of the law contributed to some confusion regarding its implementation. The elections were contested by tens of thousands of candidates at the municipal, town and county levels, representing a broad spectrum of political parties, coalitions and independent lists. The campaign was generally well conducted, focusing on socio-economic and national issues. Media coverage of the campaign was mostly balanced.

Several shortcomings were observed in the field of national minority participation and representation. These include stipulations in the new Election Law which provide for by-elections to ensure proportional minority representation, but fail to establish clear procedures on how to implement these provisions. Three other serious concerns, already highlighted during previous elections, remain: voter registers continue to identify the ethnicity of voters, the 1991 Law on Citizenship disadvantages persons who are not ethnic Croats, and ethnic Croat and Serb displaced persons are afforded unequal voting rights.

On election day, polling was conducted in accordance with the law and regulations, thus continuing a trend noted last year. The only exception was "family" voting, noted in half of observed polling stations. The vote count was also conducted accurately.

The International Election Observation Mission for the 20 May 2001 local government elections in Croatia is a joint undertaking of the OSCE/ODIHR and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe (CLRAE).

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For further information, please contact Jens-Hagen Eschenbächer, OSCE/ODIHR Spokesperson, Warsaw +48-22-5200600 or +48-603 683 122; or Mark Stevens, Head of the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission, Zagreb +385 1 483 6007; or Gyorgy Bergou, CLRAE Secretariat, Strasbourg +33-388-41-2804.