ZAGREB, Jan 27(Hina) - Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said on Tuesday it was for the Osijek county branch of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party to decide whether or not it would appoint a member of the Independent Democratic Serb
Party (SDSS) as a deputy prefect of the County of Osijek and Baranja.
ZAGREB, Jan 27(Hina) - Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said on Tuesday it
was for the Osijek county branch of the Croatian Democratic Union
(HDZ) party to decide whether or not it would appoint a member of the
Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) as a deputy prefect of the
County of Osijek and Baranja.#L#
Speaking during Question Time in parliament, Sanader said he was in
favour of the appointment of an SDSS representative, because it would
help improve inter-ethnic relations.
The prime minister was responding to the question by Vlado Jukic of
the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP), who wanted to know on the basis of
which document a deputy county prefect had to be a representative of
ethnic minorities, especially the Serb community, since the Erdut
Agreement was no longer in force.
Sanader said his party had decided not to question decisions by its
local branches, adding that the government would examine which
provisions of the Erdut Agreement were still in effect and which had
been incorporated into government decisions and the Constitutional Law
on the Rights of National Minorities.
The prime minister reiterated the determination of his government to
continue the construction of the Zagreb-Split-Dubrovnik highway and to
build a bridge between Komarna and the Peljesac peninsula. He said
that the two projects were "compatible rather than competitive",
adding that the construction of the bridge might begin early next
year.
(Hina) vm sb