Following the announcement by the Croatian Democratic Party of Slavonia and Baranja (HDSSB) that it might name war crimes convict Branimir Glavas as the head of all its slates in the forthcoming election, the nongovernmental election-monitoring organisation GONG said in a statement on Friday that Glavas should not head any slates.
Citing "absurdities and chaos in election legislation," GONG called for a comprehensive reform of election legislation to abolish the passive voting right and the right of persons convicted of the gravest of crimes to head election slates until their rehabilitation.
"A person found guilty of a crime which is considered under international law to be the gravest form of criminal offence that is not subject to the status of limitations cannot be a symbol of political speech or used in elections as the most important part of the democratic process," GONG said, adding that such a move would be unconstitutional too.
GONG said it expected relevant institutions, notably the Constitutional Court, to fill in legal gaps and take appropriate action to show that "political decisions may not be taken by persons and organisations that do not accept and respect the constitutional order and the fundamental values of our political community."
GONG welcomed the "prompt, well-reasoned and unequivocal opinion" of the State Election Commission on the matter, which was published on Thursday.
