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Zagreb - The 151-seat Croatian Parliament on Thursday adopted the new law on constituencies for the election of members of Parliament, redrawing the boundaries of the 10 electoral districts but not change the election system.
The bill was passed by 77 votes to 56.
The 10 constituencies will each elect 14 deputies, the ethnic minorities are entitled to choose eight MPs, while the diaspora will elect three deputies to the Sabor.
The new law ensures that the number of voters per constituency remains relatively equal, that is, the margins of difference are not higher or lower than 2.2%.
About one fifth of voters (22%) will now be in a different constituency than they were before.
Unlike the previous design of constituencies, Zagreb will be the only city divided into several constituencies. Instead of the current four, the capital will be divided into three constituencies, namely Constituency No.1, Constituency No. 2 and Constituency No. 6.
Constituency No.1 covers the centre of Zagreb, the city of Velika Gorica south of Zagreb and several nearby municipalities.
Constituency No. 2 includes east Zagreb, most of Zagreb County, Bjelovar-Bilogora County and the south of Koprivnica-Križevci County.
Constituency No. 3 remains the same as before, covering northwestern Croatia: Varaždin County, Međimurje County, Krapina-Zagorje County and several adjacent municipalities in Zagreb County.
Constituency No. 4 includes northeastern Croatia: Osijek-Baranja County, Virovitica-Podravina County and the north of Koprivnica-Križevci County.
Constituency No. 5 also remains the same as before, including three Slavonian counties: Vukovar-Srijem, Slavonski Brod-Posavina and Požega-Slavonia plus the east of Sisak-Moslavina County.
Constituency No. 6 comprises western parts of the City of Zagreb and adjacent parts of Zagreb County.
Constituency No. 7 consists of the whole of Lika-Senj County, northern parts of Zadar County and parts of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, plus the whole of Karlovac County and northern parts of Sisak-Moslavina County.
Constituency No. 8 includes Istria County plus the City of Rijeka and several towns in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County.
Constituency No. 9 covers the largest parts of Dalmatia: the City of Zadar and the remaining parts of Zadar County, the whole of Šibenik-Knin County and northwestern parts of Split-Dalmatia County.
Constituency No. 10 covers southernmost Croatia: the remaining parts of Split-Dalmatia County, and Dubrovnik-Neretva County.
Opposition accuses gov't of gerrymandering, will ask Court to assess constitutionality of law
Opposition MPs criticised the lack of transparency of the legislative process, accusing the ruling HDZ party of gerrymandering.
Sandra Benčić of the We Can party announced that they would ask the Constitutional Court to assess whether the new law can pass the test of constitutionality.