Commenting on proposals to change the date of local elections, Sanader said that the HDZ's position was that the elections should be held on the third Sunday in May in accordance with the existing law.
The HDZ will not put forward a proposal to change the date of local elections, he said, recalling that such a proposal had come from local self-government units in some tourist resorts. Those local authorities said that the establishment of coalitions and town and county councils would last a month after the elections, which would collide with the tourist season.
If the existing law remains in force, that will probably happen in some places, but the HDZ believes that the law should not be changed, Sanader said.
He said that the party would hold a two-day conference in late February to prepare for the elections.
The meeting agreed that HDZ presidential candidate Jadranka Kosor's result in the recent presidential election of 34 percent confirmed that the HDZ was the leading political force of the Croatian people as well as the party's result in the 2003 parliamentary elections.
Asked whether his deputy and Health Minister Andrija Hebrang, who recently underwent surgery, would remain in his post, Sanader said that the party did not discuss the issue today. Whether Hebrang will stay in the government or leave will be decided next week, he said.