ZAGREB, April 25 (Hina) - "The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has never proposed a coalition with the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) because such a coalition is not realistic," SDP leader Ivica Racan told a press conference during a
break in a session of the party's main committee in Zagreb on Sunday.
ZAGREB, April 25 (Hina) - "The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has never
proposed a coalition with the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) because
such a coalition is not realistic," SDP leader Ivica Racan told a
press conference during a break in a session of the party's main
committee in Zagreb on Sunday.#L#
Racan was commenting on a statement by the HDZ leader and Prime
Minister, Ivo Sanader, who has said that he would not enter into a
coalition with the SDP because there were still "orthodox communists"
in it.
"A coalition with the HDZ is not realistic, but cooperation on some
issues of national interest is," Racan said.
At his party's election convention in the northern Adriatic city of
Rijeka on Saturday, Sanader commented on an earlier statement by Racan
that a "major coalition" with the HDZ was hypothetically possible on
the condition that the HDZ was a democratic party, which Racan
believes it is not, and that such a coalition was required by
circumstances of national interest.
Sanader advised Racan that he should "sweep in front of his own door
first", stressing that there were still "orthodox communists" in the
SDP.
Following media speculation about the possibility of such a coalition
being formed, Racan said that "the views of a small number of
individuals do not represent the view of the SDP".
"It doesn't enter my head to start a debate with the nervous Sanader
about my assessment of the extent to which a certain party is
democratic, because that is decided by citizens," Racan said, adding
that it was very important for a party in power to be democratic
because that was a precondition for democratic government.
Racan said that he had sent a letter to Sanader this morning
congratulating him on behalf of the SDP on being re-elected president
of the HDZ and also extending his congratulations to the newly-elected
party leaders.
In the letter, Racan hailed Sanader's statement that strategic
national interests, such as Croatia's entry into the European Union,
must be above individual and party interests.
(Hina) vm