Speaking in an interview in the central news broadcast on Croatian Television, PM Sanader said he still had not received President Mesic's answer.
Expressing hope that Mesic would accept his proposal, Sanader said he believed that the meeting should be held as soon as possible to make a joint decision in line with the law and the Constitution.
He recalled that the Council for National Security had still not convened during his term and that it was convened together by the prime minister and the head of state, who also determined its agenda together.
The Council consists of the head of state, the prime minister, the ministers of justice, defence, the interior and foreign affairs, the government member in charge of national security, and the head of the General Staff.
The prime minister agreed with President Mesic's statement that there was no constitutional crisis in the country, but added that the current situation had never happened on the Croatian political scene before and that he hoped to resolve it with Mesic to the benefit of Croatian citizens.
The PM said that the government would meet on Tuesday, November 30, to call presidential elections for January 2, 2005.
He said that he could understand that presidential campaigns were always marked by nervousness. "However, it seems that lately there have been too many would-be scandals which are aimed at creating a situation in which Croatia would be depicted one way or another ahead of December 17, when we expect a very important decision of the European Council on a date for the start of accession talks," Sanader said.
He called on all to act responsibly "so that we could show that Croatia is a mature democratic country".
Commenting on the situation regarding the replacement of the POA chief, Sanader said he considered it "an unfortunate departure from common practice in all democratic countries in whose company we want to be".