Croatian Parliament Speaker Josip Leko on Monday said that he expected all democratic standards to be adhered to with regard to the civil initiative "In the name of the Family", which calls for a referendum for the Constitution to define marriage as a heterosexual union.
"Whatever those standards result in, in keeping with the Constitution, legislation and decisions by the relevant bodies, they need to be respected", he said in an interview with Croatian Radio, adding that it was most important to preserve democratic institutions to develop democratic standards "when this suits us, but also when it does not".
The Sabor, Leko confirmed, has received the initiative's petition and signatures to call a referendum and has forwarded it into parliamentary procedure. "It has been referred to the relevant parliamentary committees and they will decide whether the signatures are in line with legislation and check the identity of signatories", he explained.
He added that he personally did not think the Constitution should specify that marriage is a union between a man and a woman as this is already defined by law.
Asked whether a possible constitutional crisis could emerge and could the president dissolve the Sabor if a majority of lawmakers did not call for the referendum, Leko said that the Constitution clearly specified when the president can dissolve the Sabor and that this was not one of those cases.
Responding to what the chances were for the law on referendum to be amended, Leko said that the law has needed to be amended for some time now.
It truly is not in line with the Constitution and the sooner the amendments are adopted the better, so that citizens can know exactly what they are faced with when they decide for a referendum, he said.
