ZAGREB, April 26 (Hina) - Asked to comment on a statement by Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Ivica Racan that he "will not enter into a debate with the nervous Sanader", Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said on Monday that "Racan
forgot that he himself had started the whole story, and he probably even overslept November 23 (parliamentary elections)".
ZAGREB, April 26 (Hina) - Asked to comment on a statement by Social
Democratic Party (SDP) leader Ivica Racan that he "will not enter into
a debate with the nervous Sanader", Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said on
Monday that "Racan forgot that he himself had started the whole story,
and he probably even overslept November 23 (parliamentary
elections)".#L#
"Racan is not an arbiter to judge which party in Croatia is democratic
and which is not. This was decided by voters. When this fact is
ignored by the SDP and its leader, it speaks best of how democratic he
and his party are," Sanader said at a Chinese cultural event in
Zagreb's Municipal Library.
Welcoming the development of the SDP towards social democracy, the
prime minister said there was no doubt that Croatia needed a strong
Social Democratic party. "But if this party continues teaching others
lessons about democracy, then it has nothing to do with Social
Democracy."
Asked to comment on a statement by European Council Secretary General
Javier Solana published by a Croatian newspaper on Monday, in which he
said that a decision would be reached in June on the status of Croatia
as a candidate for EU membership, but that a date for the start of
entry talks might not be set then, Sanader reiterated that he expected
both decisions to be reached in June.
(Hina) vm