Members of a conservative citizens’ initiative, ‘The People Decide’ who have been collecting signatures seeking a referendum on changes to election law, on Wednesday submitted their petition to parliament.
A socially conservative civic initiative in Croatia, “The People Decide”, which is campaigning for changes to Croatian election law, on Wednesday submitted its request for a referendum, “For a fairer electoral system”, to the Croatian parliament.
About hundred leaders and supporters of the initiative and volunteers gathered in an almost carnival atmosphere, with balloons, some wearing folk costumes and carrying Croatian flags, accompanied by folk tambourines – and walked in procession through Zagreb’s upper town, to jointly submit the request.
The campaign calls for the number of MPs to be cut from 150 to 120, for an increase in preferential voting on party slates from one to three votes, and for a restriction in minority MPs’ voting rights.
They collected signatures in two lists because they have formulated two questions, the first referring to the election rules and the second to minority MPs’ voting rights.
Critics of the call say the proposed changes will reduce the rights of the country’s ethnic Serbs, who make up about 5 per cent of the population, and are discriminatory.
For the first question, the campaigners claim to have collected 405,342 signatures and for the second, 407,469. The campaign group collected the signatures from May 13 to 27.
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