OSCE Mission to Croatia and Central State Administration Office support establishment of permanent election body

ZAGREB, 13 December 2005 - The establishment of a permanent and independent State Election Commission was today supported by participants of a roundtable meeting in the Sabor (Parliament).

The event, organized by the Central State Administration Office and the OSCE Mission to Croatia, focused on the draft law on the State Election Commission, and was opened by  Parliament Speaker Vladimir Seks, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, and OSCE Mission Head Ambassador Jorge Fuentes.

Ambassador Fuentes welcomed the willingness of the Government and the Sabor to have a public discussion on the draft law on the State Election Commission saying: "Support of electoral reform in Croatia is one of the priorities of the Mission and the establishment of an impartial and permanent election commission is in line with international and national recommendations".

Parliament Speaker Seks said that it was important that the commission will be a permanent, independent and expert body.

Prime Minister Sanader said that the timing was now right to adopt the new legislation as all the electoral cycles were over. "This will be a big step forward in the full democratization of the electoral procedure".

State Secretary Antun Palaric, who spoke on behalf of the Central State Administration Office, presented an overview of the draft law which passed the first reading in the Croatian Parliament.

He also said that the suggestions brought forward at the meeting, including those by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), will be extremely useful for the preparation of the final text of the law.

The OSCE Mission, as well as ODIHR and other organizations, stand ready to further assist the Croatian authorities in addressing key electoral reform issues, such as regulating campaign funding, voter lists and minority representation.