Republic of Croatia: Local Government Elections 2001 Nordem Report

Transcription

1 Republic of Croatia: Local Government Elections 2001 Nordem Report Espen Pettersen WORKING PAPER 2001:19

2 REPUBLIC OF CROATIA: LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS 2001 Nordem Report by Espen Pettersen Working Paper 2001/19

3 Preface In connection with the local government elections in Croatia on 20 May 2001, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Croatia invited the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to observe the conduct of the elections. The OSCE through its Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) welcomed the invitation and an OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission (EOM) was set up in Zagreb on 18 April Head of Mission was Mark Stevens from the United Kingdom. A team of 12 international experts and long-term observers (LTOs) followed the preelection campaign and the preparations for the local government elections. 136 international short-term observers (STOs) from the OSCE participating states were deployed to observe on election day. The short-term observers covered more than 830 polling stations in 18 counties and Zagreb City. Two short-term observers were recruited to the election observation mission by the Norwegian Institute of Human Rights and the Norwegian Refugee Council, through the Nordem Stand-by Force, at the request by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In addition, one observer was seconded directly by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The observers from Norway were Marie Louise Teige (MFA), deployed in Gracac, Nina Birkeland, deployed in Slavonski Brod, and Espen Pettersen, deployed in Dalmatia: Split, Klis, Makarska and Vrgorac. This report has been edited by Bergljot Hovland. The report is based on the observations made by the Norwegian observers. All opinions expressed in the report are the author s responsibility and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Norwegian Institute of Human Rights. The Norwegian Institute of Human Rights / Nordem University of Oslo November 2001 Contents

4 Preface Contents Map of Croatia (not available online) 1. INTRODUCTION 1 2. HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL BACKGROUND 1 3. THE LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK 4 4. THE ELECTION ADMINISTRATION 6 5. VOTER AND CIVIC EDUCATION 8 6. VOTER REGISTRATION 8 7. REGISTRATION OF CANDIDATE LISTS 9 8. THE PRE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN THE MEDIA OBSERVATION ON THE POLLING DAY THE REVIEW OF COMPLAINTS PROCESS COMMENTS ON THE OUTCOME OF THE ELECTION CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS EVALUATION OF THE OBSERVATION CO-ORDINATION APPENDICES 18 - APPENDIX 1: STATEMENT OF PRELIMINARY FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS BY THE ODIHR EOM (6 PAGES) (not available online) - APPENDIX 2: ANALYSIS OF THE COUNTY LEVEL RESULTS FROM THE FINAL REPORT OF THE OSCE/ODIHR (1 PAGE) (not available online) Map of Croatia (not available online) 1. INTRODUCTION

5 The local government elections on 20 May 2001 in Croatia elected county assemblies with 31 to 51 members, Zagreb city assembly with 51 members, Town councils with 19 to 35 members, and Municipal councils with 7 to 19 members. In Zagreb the voters had only one vote, for the Zagreb city assembly. In towns and municipalities the voters had two votes, one vote for the county assembly and one vote for the town council or the municipal council, respectively. The local and council elections 20 May 2001 were described in the preliminary statement by the International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) to Croatia as being generally in accordance with OSCE commitments and Council of Europe standards for democratic elections. The International Election Observation Mission to Croatia for the Local Government elections 20 May 2000 should not be mistaken for the OSCE mission to Croatia, which has been working in Croatia since April HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL BACKGROUND Croatia has throughout much of its history been incorporated into a greater entity. Josip Broj Tito incorporated Croatia into Yugoslavia after the Second World War. From the Second World War until his death in 1980, Tito was the leader of Yugoslavia. Tito had a Croatian father and a Slovenian mother, and was born north of Zagreb in the little town of Kumrovec. Any partition tendencies from the different republics were crushed down in the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1970s The Croatian Spring, an anti Yugoslav independence movement, was put down. The power was divided between the different republics within Yugoslavia with a complicated system of checks and balances. After Tito s death the powers of the republic were divided with a revolving presidency amongst the republics, which caused much disarray. After Tito s death in 1980, the friction between the different republics within the republican Communist parties surfaced again, as they had during previous decades. Following the collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe, the different Yugoslav republics began to seek their independence. The path towards independence began following the economic difficulties that arose in Yugoslavia, and the tension rising between the northern republics Croatia and Slovenia. Slovenia first parted from Yugoslavia, with Croatia following close behind.

6 Croatia declared independence on 25 June This was after the Communist party lost the elections in May 1990 to the newly established Hrvatska Demokratska Zajednica (HDZ: Croatian Democratic Union) and its leader Franjo Tudjman. During the elections the Serb Democratic Party, which was founded in Knin, managed to win only a few seats. Dismay amongst the Serb minority in Croatia was continuously rising. Fighting erupted between Croats and Serbs in the summer of 1990 and continued into the autumn. The Serbs secured control over a large part of Croatia. The different territories were later joined together in the self-proclaimed Republika Srpska Kraijina, RSK, in In January 1992 Germany led the international recognition of Croatia as an independent country, although the Croatian government did not control whole its territory as prescribed by international law. A cease-fire and the deployment of peacekeepers in the country followed, which helped to keep the striving parties apart. In Republika Srpska Krajina most of the ethnic Croats were expelled from the territory, producing a large number of internally displaced persons within Croatia. This is a problem today, as the internally displaced still are unable or unwilling to return to their place of origin. In 1995 the Croats again gained control over the RSK territory. The change of power created a wave of Serb refugees to Yugoslavia. In the Erdut-agreement, later incorporated into the Dayton agreement, control was handed over to the Croatian government in return for a United Nations Transitional Administration (UNTAES) for one year. UNTAES was subsequently prolonged until 1998, and later their tasks were taken over by the OSCE police monitoring. New parliamentary elections were held on 29 October Having now full control over the territory of Croatia, Tudjman s party HDZ won a landslide victory, which gave them 75 of 127 seats in the parliament. Local elections and presidential elections were held in 1997, giving HDZ control in 16 of 20 county assemblies, 68 of 120 town councils and 294 of 400 municipal councils. President Tudjman was reconfirmed when he received 61 % of the votes for presidency. Tudjman died in November In the following presidential and parliamentary elections the presidential candidate of the HDZ, Mate Granic did not make it to the 2 nd round. In the parliamentary elections HDZ gained only 26.7 % of the votes, which gave them 46 seats in the parliament. A new government was formed with a coalition of six parties. The coalition parties and the main opposition parties to day are described in the following sections. The parties in the government

7 The Social Democratic Party, SDP (Socijal Demokratska Stranka), is the main government party with 45 seats in the parliament and 8 ministers. The Prime Minister Ivica Racan belongs to SDP. The SDP also has the mayor in Zagreb, Mr. Milan Bandic. The party s main election goals have been to consolidate their position as the lead party in Croatian politics, and to try to gain control of lower level government. During the campaign the party led the process of managerial and editorial changes at the formerly pro-hdz but state-owned Slobodna Dalmacija newspaper, which provoked a series of protest actions in Split. It also led the signing of the Atabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU on 14 May 2001, which sets a timetable for EU membership. The Croatian Social Liberal Party, HSLS (Hrvatska Socijalno Liberalna Stranka), is the second largest party in the Coalition of six, with 23 seats in the parliament and 4 ministers in the government. The party leader is Drazen Budisa. The mayor in Split belongs to HSLS. During the campaign the party rejected the changes at the Slobodna Dalmacija newspaper. Their goal in the elections was to recover from the defeat of the party leader Budisa in the Presidential elections. Their aim was also to maintain credibility as an equal partner with The Social Democratic Party. The Croatian People s Party, HNS (Hrvatska Narodna Stranka), is the Croatian president Stipe Mesic s party. The party was also in the contest for the mayor post in Zagreb, with the profiled female candidate Vesna Pusic. The HNS power base is in Zagreb, whereas elsewhere in the country it is a minor party. It has only two seats in the parliament, and one minister in the government. An incident in Split prior to the election, where there was verbal abuse against president Mesic during an appearance, may have been damaging for the party. However, the party hoped to cash in votes on the popularity of the president. The Croatian Peasants Party, HSS (Hrvatska Seljacka Stranka, is a minor coalition party. It has, however, 16 seats in the parliament and three ministers in the government. The Speaker of Parliament Zlatko Tomcic is the leader of the party. The party had a strong support in the rural areas nation-wide, and was prior to the local elections second only to HDZ in numbers of local councillors nation-wide. The Istrian Democratic Assembly, IDS (Istarski Demokratski Sabor) is a local party from Istria County, and it has 4 seats in the parliament and one minister in the government. During the pre election it led the revolt against the Ministry of Justice decision to revoke 10 Articles of Istria Statute making Italian an official language. At the start of the campaign it was involved in a war of word with the SDP. Its goals are to further decentralise from Zagreb. The main personalities in the party are the party leader and minister Ivan Jakovcic, and the Italian minority parliament representative. The party might leave the coalition of Six in the government as a result of the elections. The Liberal Party, LS (Liberalna Stranka) has two seats in the parliament and one minister. It is based in Osijek in the far east of the country, where it has its stronghold and also the mayor of the city. Its goals for the election were to hold on to the mayor position in Osijek, and to make the threshold of 5 % in Zagreb City.

8 The parties in opposition The Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ (Hrvatska Demokratska Zajednica), is the main opposition party, and has been ruling Croatia for a decade during Tudjman s rule. HDZ has currently 41 seats in the parliament. Its party leader is Ivo Sanander. Another wellknown figure is the leader of the HDZ parliament group, Vladimir Seks. Its main goal for this election was to hold on to as many municipalities as possible, and hold a power balance in as many counties as possible. It was believed that the purge of extremists in the party would start after the elections, but given the results it remains to be seen whether this will happen or not. The Croatian Party of Rights, HSP (Hrvatska Stranka Prava), is a minor nationalist party. It has 4 seats in the parliament. The party leader is Ante Dapic. It is located in Dalmatia. The Serb People s Party, SNS (Srpska Narodna Stranka), has one seat in the parliament, taken by the party leader, Mr Milan Djukic. The party also has minority representatives in the parliament. It is based in Donji Lapac in the former Republika Srpska Krajina, a Serb returning point. It competes mainly against the other Serb party SDSS. The Independent Serb Democratic Party, SDSS (Samostalno Srpska Demokratska Stranka) is the second of the two Serb parties in the elections. It is not represented in the parliament. Its party leader is Vojislav Stanimirovic, and another known member is the head of the Serb Civic Council, Milorad Pupovac. Its goal for the election was to challenge the SNS. It protested forcefully against the arrest of 7 suspected Serb war criminals, who were arrested on the eve of the election campaign. The Democratic Centre, DC (Demokratski Centar), is a new party formed after the 2000 presidential elections. Its leader is the former HDZ foreign minister Mate Granic, and the party has 4 seats in the parliament. It has tried to gain support from both HDZ and SDP voters. Primorska Goranski Party, PGS (Primorska-goranski Savez), is a regional party based in Rijeka. It has support mainly in the Primorska-Gorenja region, and has two seats in the parliament. The Association for Prosperity and Integrity, HIP: In the local elections in Zagreb, an independent slate headed by the son of the deceased president Tudjman, Miroslav Tudjman, appeared. 3. THE LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK

9 The new election law On 10 April 2001 the decision on proclamation of The Law on the Election of Members of the Representative Bodies of Local and Regional Self-governing units, adopted by the Croatian Parliament on 6 April 2001, was signed by the president of the Republic of Croatia, Stjepan Mesic. It was to enter into effect on the day of publication in the Croatian Official Gazette. The publication took place on 11 April. The ODIHR EOM considers that the new election law provides for democratic elections. However, the law was adopted a short time before the calling of the elections, which have caused some of the shortcomings in the previous elections in Croatia. As there were changes between the previously draft law and the law adopted by the parliament, there were some confusion and uncertainty amongst the political parties and the election commissions concerning the material contents of the law. According to Article 4 of the law, local elections will be held on the third Sunday in May, regularly every fourth year. The electors and the elected Article 2 in the new law stipulates that the members of the representative bodies shall be elected by Croatian citizens who have turned 18 years of age, with permanent residence in the area of the unit for the representative body of which the elections are conducted. Three of the most important conditions for being allowed to vote are therefore, Croatian citizenship, being 18 years of age, and permanent residence in the area for which the elections are being held. The Age requirement is in line with OSCE standards. Citizenship in the state where elections are being held, is also a commonly used criteria, however, difficult in Croatia where citizenship is regulated through the 1991 Law on Citizenship. The 1991 law on citizenship has been criticised because it disadvantages those who are not ethnic Croats. The law of 1991 has still not been amended. It has previously been stated by the OSCE and the ODIHR that the law should be brought in line with international standards, and should create equal citizenship conditions for all, regardless of ethnicity. The persons voting should as a rule have their permanent residence in the area in which the elections are being held. Provisions exist for the displaced persons, i.e. persons who are unable or unwilling at the present time to return to their place of origin, and therefore have residence in another area of the country. These voters were allowed to vote in

10 special polling stations that allowed them to cast their votes in their original place of residence. However, as noted in the preliminary findings of the EOM, the regulation on voting for displaced ethnic Croats and ethnic Serbs in effect discriminates in favour of ethnic Croats. The persons nominated to be candidates for the elections must be Croatian citizens, 18 years of age and have permanent residence in the area of the unit for the representative body of which the elections are being conducted. Again, the above-mentioned shortcomings in the 1991 Law on Citizenship disadvantages those who are not ethnic Croats. Identifying documents The approved identifying documents of the voters were ID card, passport, military card, and driver s licence. The electoral system The electoral system was the same for all the elections. It is a proportional system, where the candidate lists have to pass a 5 % threshold to qualify for the allocation of seats. Any party, coalition or independent candidate participating in the elections must submit a list with the same number of candidates as there are seats in the body of which the elections took place. Seats are distributed on a proportional basis using the d Hondt method, with candidates chosen from the list according to their position on the list. 4. THE ELECTION ADMINISTRATION The Municipal and County elections 2001 were administered at four levels. At national level the State Election Commission (SEC) was the responsible organ. As Croatia is divided into 20 counties plus Zagreb City, there are 20 County Election Commissions (CECs) and The Zagreb City Assembly (ZEC). Each county is divided into municipalities and towns. There are approximately 400 municipalities and 120 towns. Each of these 520 units elects their own Municipal and Town Councils. The Election Observation Mission found that there were in total 566 councils to be elected.

11 The bodies for the conduct of the elections are regulated in chapter IV of the Law on election on members of the representative bodies of the local and regional self government units. The corresponding paragraphs in the law are All the electoral commissions and committees comprise a permanent and an extended membership. The State Election Commission s (SEC) permanent membership comprises a chairman and four members (and deputies) the chairman is to be the president of the Supreme Court and the members are to be appointed by the constitutional court from among judges of the Supreme Court and other distinguished lawyers. None of the members are allowed to be political party members. The SEC s extended membership is appointed after the announcement of the party lists of the candidates, and comprises representatives of political parties; three from the ruling parties and three from parties in opposition according to their composition in the parliament. The president of the Supreme court was not appointed until 15 may, thus the State Election Commission had been run by the deputy Chairman and the appointed members. Extended members where only confirmed on the 8 may. The County Election Commissions and Zagreb City Election Commission s (CEC and ZEC) permanent memberships comprise a chairman (to be at least a graduated lawyer) and two members that are appointed by the SEC. The CEC and the ZEC also comprised a permanent and extended membership. The extended composition comprises four members, two from ruling parties and two from opposition parties according to the composition of the respective county assembly/ Zagreb City assembly. The County election commission appointed their extended membership on the 10 May. The Municipal Election Commissions (MEC) and Town Election Commissions (TEC) permanent membership comprises a chairman and two members, appointed by the relevant CEC. The chairman should be a lawyer. The extended composition comprises four members- two from ruling parties and two from opposition parties according to the composition of the respective municipal and town councils. According to 32 of the election law, a Voting Committee (VC) should comprise a chairman and two members, all of them with deputies. The Voting Committee should be appointed by the respective MEC or TEC. The Chairperson and the members should be as a rule, from the ranks of the legal profession. There is no formal party membership on the VCs, but at the same time there is no prohibition on it. The extended members are mostly persons who had been members in previous election, and are usually drawn from the ranks of the political parties that previously have been represented in the VC. The State Election Commission should stipulate procedures for candidacy and conduct of the elections, pass mandatory instructions for work of the election commissions (these

12 were quite substantial and far reaching, because many procedures were not articulated in the law), directly supervise the work of the county election commissions and Zagreb city elections commissions, print ballots on behalf of other election commissions, be responsible for appeals against the CEC and the ZEC in regards of procedures for candidacy and election of member of county assemblies. SEC decisions can be appealed to the constitutional court. The main tasks of the County Election Commissions are to announce party candidate lists for county assembly elections, supervise the work of the MECs and TECs, supervise regularity of election campaign in the county, announce results for the members of county assembly. The ZEC is likewise responsible for the conduct of the election to the Zagreb City assembly and the associated procedures. The ZEC will tabulate and announce the results of the elections there. The main tasks of the MECs and TECs according to 29 of the election law are to appoint Voting Committees for municipal, town and county elections, and supervise them, determine polling stations for the municipal, town and county elections, announce candidate lists for municipal and town elections, compile and tabulate polling station results in the area, supervise regularity for municipal and town elections, forward results for county elections to CEC, announce results for town and municipal councils. The Voting Committees (VCs) are responsible for the administration of the polling stations. There were approximately 6500 polling stations in total throughout the country. The Voting Committee is responsible for the conduct of the voting process and should deliver results and materials to the respective MEC and TEC within 12 hours after the closure of the polling stations. 5. VOTER AND CIVIC EDUCATION Croatia has had several local and national elections since independence in The election laws have often been changed and adopted very late prior to the elections. Civic education on the rules and regulations for elections has thus been needed. It has mainly been carried out by non-governmental organisations, such as GONG, Glas 99 and the Croatian law centre. These organisations were all very active during the parliamentary and presidential elections in During the municipal and county elections 2001, GONG participated with approximately 3000 observers, who observed in polling stations throughout the country. Considering the low turnout of 47%, it is recommended that the Croatian authorities start conducting information campaigns prior to the next elections, to motivate and educate the public.

13 6. VOTER REGISTRATION The official number of voters for the 20 May Local Government Elections was 3,886,720. The fact that the voter registers continue to identify each person by their nationality, i.e. ethnicity, was recognised as a problem related to minorities in the preliminary statement by the ODIHR EOM. It was commented that given the new voting system, whereby there are not separate elections for minorities, there is no election-related reason for such an identification by ethnicity. Electoral registers are public documents in which the citizens are listed according to their place of permanent residence. Members of armed forces are also registered according to their place of permanent residence. Persons with temporary residence abroad are registered according to their residence in the Republic of Croatia prior to their departure from the country. The process for registering voters is according to the manual of ODIHR as follows: A separate register is kept for each municipality. Electoral register is based on information from records on Croatian citizenship and residence, other public documents and other credible proof. Information on 18 years olds, residence and deceased is also provided by the local registrar s office and police. Citizens can examine lists from three days of the call for elections Requests for registration can be submitted up to 14 days prior to the election The election register must be finalised at the latest eight days prior to the election. Voters who did not find themselves on the voter register on election day had the option to go to the municipal building and check the records there. If the voter were on the records in the municipality, and mistakenly not on the voter register, they were issued a certificate that allowed them to vote. The impression from the rural areas around Vrgorac was that not many bothered to follow this procedure if they were not found on the register in the polling station. However, a small number of people used this option and voted with a certificate issued by the competent body. In Vrgorac close to the Bosnian border some of the Voting Committees told the ODIHR observers that they had found irregularities in the voter registers. In two polling stations the observers were told that residents in Bosnia were mistakenly in the voter register. In one polling station the VC had identified 70 people not residing in their village but in Bosnia. In another village approximately 30 non-residents were found on the voter register. The explanation suggested by the VC was that the registers were from last year s

14 election and had not been updated. In last year s parliamentary and presidential elections the Diaspora was allowed to vote. Residency in the unit was not required. The VC, however, informed the observers that not many from Bosnia had arrived to vote. The VCs found it in general unfair that people not residing in the unit were potential voters for the local elections. 7. REGISTRATION OF CANDIDATE LISTS An established political party may propose a list of candidates. Independent candidates may according to Article 11 of the law on local elections submit an independent slate with 100 signatures for a municipal slate, 150 signatures for a town slate, and 500 signatures for a county slate. The candidates are registered with their ethnicity, in the same way as voters are registered with ethnicity on the voter register. The ODIHR EOM commented in its preliminary statement that A positive development of the new law is that the first candidate on the list is the list leader and must be prepared to take up the mandate if elected. Further, candidates must be from the locality, which increases the connection and accountability between voters and their elected representatives. A negative feature of the process is that the lists of candidates were published in some newspapers with the ethnicity of the individual candidates specified. Gender equality The article 11 of the law on local elections states the principle that the political parties are obliged to ensure the principle of gender equality, however no penalties is stated in the law for disregarding this, nor does any safeguard mechanism exist to ensure that this obligation is respected. The article is in practise an encouragement for the political parties to ensure that the principle of gender equality is followed. An analysis carried out by the ODIHR in 10 of the 21 counties throughout the country showed that women representation varied from 13 to 22 % on the lists. However, they were seldom in a high enough position on the lists to be elected. The notable exception was Vesna Pusic, the main rival for the position of mayor in Zagreb. Minority representation

15 Minorities are to be represented in proportion to the size of their population within the unit, and in accordance with local statutes. There is, however, no provision in the law on how to achieve the correct level of minority representation. The political parties were encouraged to acknowledge the representation of minorities when they made their lists of candidates, but it was not obligatory. After the results of the new census are published, there is an option to conduct by-elections if it is clear that proportional representation of minorities is not reached. The census may not be finished until spring What will happen when the results of the census are known, and the implementation of the minority representation is to begin, is an issue of much discussion. According to the ODIHR EOM there are two possible options for the implementation of the provisions of minority representation. One could increase the seats in the body in question to accommodate the minority representative, or one could remove the mandate from an elected member in the representative body to make way for the minority representative. The second option, however, will create a problem with Article 3 of the local election law that states it shall not be possible to recall the members of the representative bodies, and their rights and obligation shall commence on the day the representative bodies are being constituted. A member of a body, who is about to be removed, will probably point to this article. The disadvantage of the first option is that it may disrupt the political balance in many elected bodies around the country. The system for by-elections for minority representation does not exist yet in any official procedure. The State Election Commission stated to the ODIHR EOM that minority candidates would be put up by any interested party and that all voters in the unit would have the right to vote. 8. THE PRE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN In the statement of preliminary conclusions from the ODIHR, the election campaign was described as generally well conducted, but low-key compare to the parliamentary or presidential elections.... The election campaign largely focused on socio-economic and national issues. Most campaign activity focused on poster campaign and television spots. The pre election campaign was short, starting officially on the 4 May, when the parties candidate lists were confirmed. Campaign silence was pronounced at midnight of 18 May, which allowed for a two-week campaign period. The governing parties stressed that the country is entering a new era with better economic conditions in the horizon. They expected inflation to fall but unemployment to remain high. There is very high unemployed in Croatia. The opposition exploited this situation to

16 gain support. However, the HDZ after 10 years in power is still viewed by the public as responsible for the problem, and it is too early for the HDZ to genuinely blame the government for this problem. Co-operation with the International War Crimes Tribunal was a hot issue during the campaign period. The government has at times been co-operative with the Tribunal in The Hague. Excavations of mass graves just outside Knin commenced in April this year. Following, the arrest of the Croatian general Mirko Norac for war crimes committed against Serb civilians during the war, sparked a demonstration in Split with demonstrators. There is a general tension between the north and the south of the country, or between Zagreb and Split. During a football match in Split between Hajduk Split and Dynamo Zagreb tensions were high and fights erupted between the supporters. The war veterans association HVIDRA was the loudest, accusing the government of criminalising the homeland war. However, as the co-operation with the international community improved, the government probably cashed in some votes on the signing of the stability and association agreement with the European Union, as it set up the time frame for the EU membership for Croatia. There is a strong view amongst the general public in Croatia that the Country should join the EU as soon as possible. In Istria there has been a conflict regarding the status of the Italian language. The Istrian assembly wanted Italian recognised as an official language. The ministry of justice stopped this, and the question is now under consideration by the constitutional court. Members of the IDS wanted to register themselves for the election as ethnic Istrians instead of Croats, but were not allowed to do this by the SEC. In the same period, posters were put up in Istria identifying the IDS as Italian fascists. 9. THE MEDIA In Croatia the most important media outlet is the state owned state-owned Croatian Radio-Television, HRT. There are also a variety of newspapers and radio channels. The ODIHR EOM s monitoring of the HRT indicated that the positive trends identified during the 2000 elections, with a fairly balanced coverage offered to all participants, did continue. The EOM noted, however, that the HRT reflected the general media tendency to focus mainly on the government and governing coalition. During the 1990s HDZ s political control of the state media afforded the party enormous political leverage and advantage. In the monitoring of the 2000 parliamentary and presidential elections some improvement in this regard was noted, as the state owned

17 media was no longer purely a mouthpiece of the ruling party. In addition, a wide range of private media outlets offered a varied political comment and an overall pluralistic media for the general public. The election law provides a general guideline for the media coverage of the election campaign. The state owned HRT issued its own regulation on the coverage of the campaign. These provided the political parties with fair and equal access according to the ODIHR preliminary report. The ODIHR also noted that reduced rates for parties wishing to buy advertising time was a positive development. The managerial and editorial changes at the Slobodna Dalmacija newspaper prior to the election was probably one of the factors contributing to heightening of tensions between the north and the south of the country. 10. OBSERVATION ON THE POLLING DAY Generally, the conduct of the elections was done according the standards of the OSCE. There were some minor problems; family voting is still observed in half of the polling stations. ODIHR observers reported from more than 830 polling stations. Of the polling stations visited 93 % reported a good or OK overall impression. Of the polling stations observed by the ODIHR observers, 97.3 % reported that no campaign material was evident in or around the polling station. Almost half of the VC chairpersons were female. In 97.9 % of the polling stations visited by the ODIHR observers, all election material was present. Secrecy of the vote was reported to be ensured in 84.6 % of the polling stations. The reported compromise of the secrecy of the vote in 15 % of the polling stations visited was largely attributed to overcrowded premises. Undue police presence in the vicinity was reported only in one polling station. All voters were reported found in the voter register in % of the stations visited. Voters presented ID in 93.8 % of the polling stations. The aggregation process in the TEC and MEC were characterised as orderly and proper in all of the cases observed. Slavonski Brod

18 Slavonski Brod is a county on the border to Bosnia, in the eastern part of Slavonia. The team arrived there on Friday 18 May and stayed until 21 May. There are 290 polling stations in the county. The team spent most of Friday and Saturday prior to election day locating a sample of these since the LTO had not been able to provide a list of polling stations in the area. On Saturday afternoon, the team was given the official list from a representative from the County Election Committee. There were several minority candidates on the ballot in Slavonski Brod: Serbs, Bosniak Muslims and Germans. In the majority of polling stations visited Croats were the dominant ethnic group among the registered voters. Two villages visited had a Serb population majority. For the curiosity there was one candidate, who is an ethnic Ukrainian, who declared himself a Japanese in protest of the government s demand that candidates should list their ethnicity. Slavonski Brod is a region where HDZ has been quite strong. Two months before the elections the government coalition in Zagreb removed the mayor of the city Slavonski Brod because of serious distrust in his execution of mandate. The general attitude among the public towards the elections was a strong feeling of indifference; many said that they would not vote. Either because there is no difference between the parties or voting does not influence the future development. The Opening The opening was delayed in the visited polling stations in Sikrevici since only the VC chair arrived early. The rest of the VC arrived in the polling station only 10 minutes prior to the opening at 7 a.m. In reality this did not affect the voting since the first voters arrived at 7.30 a.m. Most of the voters were expected to arrive after morning mass at 8 a.m. The Polling On a general level the secrecy of the vote was secured, but many incidences of family voting were observed. However, no proxy voting could be seen. The atmosphere was calm and hospital/welcoming in all the location visited. All voters were found on the register in visited polling stations. No returning refugees voted at any polling stations. In one voting special polling station for IDPs all who had come to vote (23 out of 86 potential voters at 17:00) found their names on the register.

19 Many of the voting committees (VCs) had a strong women representation, both in urban and rural areas. Several VCs had female chair, and many also were made up of women only. On our visits to the polling stations in the two days prior to Election Day, there had been quite a bit of campaign material present on the polling stations and in the near surroundings. At all polling stations this had been removed. In about 2/3 of the polling stations there were party observers present, and in a few (3) observers from GONG. The Counting The counting was rapid an efficient. All VC members (6), the party observers (7) and the GONG representative participated. There was no discussion over invalid votes, only two persons looked at them. For the county election there were 25 invalid votes out of 735 cast votes. The number of registered voters was 1839 in this polling station. Aggregation of results The ballots and other voting material were delivered directly to the MEC, where the results were computerised immediately. Split, Klis, Makarska and Vrgorac The area covered by the team was quite large, consisting of Split and Klis (opening and closing) Makarska and the area around Vrgorac in the Hinterland. The Opening Opening procedures were observed in the town of Split, in a polling station of the main primary school. There were several different polling stations located in the premises of the school. The opening were conducted according to prescribed procedures. All the material for the election was present at the opening. Not many voters arrived before the station opened.

20 In all the other polling stations visited later that day, it was reported that the opening at 0700 had taken place without any problems. The committees stated that all the necessary material was present during the opening, as well as throughout the day. The Polling The team visited 12 polling stations visited in Makarska, Vrgorac and in the surrounding area during the day. All polling stations visited had a large number of family voting, mostly elder married couples voting together. No visible campaign material was present, except in the municipal building in Vrgorac town, where at the entrance of the polling station a large poster of general Mirko Norac was hanging, together with a petition to give him a fair treatment. General Mirko Norac has ties to the town Sinj, a town a bit further north, but with strong bonds to Vrgorac. Thus the posters were understandable from a local point of view, however in contradiction with the prohibition of campaign material. The arrest of general Mirko Norac had earlier in the campaign sparked the extreme right wing parties to organise large protests. In Makarska, the largest polling station was located in the war veterans association HVIDRA s Café, under the HVIDRA offices. HVIDRA supports far right-wing political ideas, and has been very active throughout the year protesting against government politics. It is recommended that the polling be conducted elsewhere, as the location could give potential voters undue associations when entering the polling station. In the Hinterland around Vrgorac, the voters in several polling stations did not present themselves with any form of identification. The reason for this was that the villages were very small, of around 100 voters registered and everybody knew one another. As one chairperson told the observers If I ask for identification, the person will get very upset, leave without voting and will not speak to me again for a very long time. The above mentioned problems with the voter registers in the Hinterland need to be addressed. The Croats in Bosnia, not residing in Croatia, were registered in some of the voter lists and had therefore the opportunity to vote. There was a large female representation in the VCs and almost half of the VC chairpersons were women. During the election day the atmosphere was calm at all visited polling stations, and the observation team was welcomed everywhere by the different VCs. The Closing

21 The closing of the polling station was observed in Klis, a little municipality in the mountains on the entrance to Split. The observers were made aware of an incident in the area during the day; a person who was not registered on the voter list became angry and ran away with the ballot box in one of the polling stations. The police captured the voter two hours later, and the ballot box was returned unharmed to the polling station. There was no suspicion of any political motivation for his action. The closing procedures were followed in the polling station observed; the counting was accurate to the exact number of votes cast. Votes were declared invalid in general agreement with everyone present. There were several party observers present. Aggregation of results At the MEC the aggregation of votes was done efficiently and in accordance with the regulations. The MEC kept order in the facility and the aggregation was quiet and professionally conducted by the MEC in Klis. 11. THE REVIEW OF COMPLAINTS PROCESS The appeal against the decisions or conduct of the Municipal Election Commissions and Town Election Commissions are in the 1 st instance brought to the respective County Election Commission and in the 2 nd instance to the Constitutional Court. Appeals against the CEC are in the 1 st instance brought to the State Election Commission and in the 2 nd instance to the Constitutional Court. The ODIHR EOM had a record of the 33 complaints filed, 20 of which came before the Constitutional Court. The EOM found the appeals process in general to be properly conducted and that complainants had adequate recourse to an appeal and that the appeals were duly considered. In the ODIHR final report it stated that complaints were lodged by 12 different parties / independent lists, and concerned the eligibility of candidates, the provision of polling stations, the timing of the constituting of an election commission, the similarity of the coats of arms of two political parties, media regulations, actions by VC members on election day, voting rights of displaced persons, alleged changes to the results in Karlovac and the ordering of political parties on the ballot paper.

22 One example was a complaint filed to the State Election Commission by the Serb People s Council, SNV, that ethnic Serb voters in three counties were not provided with an adequate number of polling stations. As a result of the complaint, additional polling stations were provided in two of the counties, but Sisak county only offered transportation to the ethnic Serb voters to distant polling stations. The SNV considered this inadequate, as ethnic Serb voters were apprehensive to travel to ethnic Croat villages to exercise their right to vote. 12. COMMENTS ON THE OUTCOME OF THE ELECTION Pre-election opinion polls predicted a strong election for the SDP and a further decline for the HDZ. However, results show that the HDZ did a much better election than anticipated (see Appendix 2 for an overview of County-level results). The number of people voting was much lower than expected, totalling to approximately 47%, which probably was a benefit to the HDZ. But even though the HDZ did a much better election than expected, it remains to be seen what effect this will have when different coalitions are formed in the various counties, and which political party or coalition will rule in the counties. Although the HDZ still has power in terms of seats in the bodies, it is uncertain whether they will be able to use this power, or if the other parties may, by way of coalition, be able to get a majority. In Zagreb the party of Miroslav Tudjman made the 5 % threshold and will probably gain 5 seats in the City council in Zagreb. 13. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The municipal and county elections were conducted generally in agreement with OSCE standards for democratic elections. The bodies involved worked professionally. Some problem areas still exist, but it is the impression of the author of this report that they are a legacy inherited of the past rather than an attempt to gain undue benefits. These problems derive from a system constructed in wartime, and it will take time to implement changes. The fact that the OSCE in general and the ODIHR through its presence remind

23 Croatian authorities of their responsibilities will hopefully have a desired effect, in terms of implementing such changes. As far as the Norwegian observers were able to tell, no undue influence was brought on the voters during the elections. There is still a problem of minority representation, and there is no obvious solution as to how to implement the system of minority representation. This problem will have to be solved before the new Census is finished. Considering the low turnout in the elections, it is recommended that the Croatian authorities initiate information campaigns prior to the next election to educate the public and raise awareness on participation issues amongst the voting population. 14. EVALUATION OF THE OBSERVATION CO-ORDINATION The ODIHR Election Observation Mission was well planned and well conducted. The logistical part of the mission functioned perfectly. The briefings given upon arrival were generally good, the briefings and debriefing were relevant, and the information material handed out was relevant. During the polling day the different teams faxed their reports to the Headquarters, and at the end of the day the long-term observers collected the forms. The statistical results of the forms follow as appendix 3 to this report. APPENDICES (not available online) Appendix 1: Statement of preliminary findings and conclusions by the ODIHR EOM (6 pages)

24 Appendix 2: Analysis of the County level results from the final report of the OSCE/ODIHR (1 page) The Law on the Election of Members of the Representative Bodies of Local and Regional Self-government Units in Croatia and the OSCE ODIHR Final Report are available at the library of the Norwegian Institute of Human Rights.