"It is very dangerous to undermine the country's democratic image at the moment, so I call on the President and the Prime Minister to act seriously, because their exchanges through the media harm the image of Croatia and the security situation and human rights," Adlesic, who is also the HSLS presidential candidate, said at a press conference in the Parliament building on Monday.
She said that the case of free-lance journalist Helena Puljiz had to be urgently resolved in order to ensure protection of her human rights and that "wrong steps taken by a group of thugs" in the Counterintelligence Agency (POA) and the work of its director, Josko Podbevsek, should be investigated. It should be made clear to the public that secret services will not be used in the election campaign, she added.
Adlesic said that Mesic had made a grave mistake conditioned by the election campaign when he demanded that Podbevsek be relieved of his duties without a prior agreement with Sanader. She added that the fact that the President was seeking Podbevsek's dismissal required urgent talks and strong arguments if the POA director were to remain in his post.
"If no such arguments are provided, Podbevsek must go," Adlesic said, stressing that party members or people under the influence of political parties should not be at the head of secret services.
Following the five-hour-long interrogation of reporter Puljiz by POA agents in October, President Mesic signed a decision to relieve Podbevsek of his duties as POA director a few days ago. Prime Minister Sanader has so far refused to countersign the document, saying that the entire case has to be addressed by the National Security Council.
Asked why HSLS deputies did not take part in the no-confidence vote in Foreign Minister Miomir Zuzul and whether this meant that relations between the HSLS and the ruling HDZ party had become strained, Adlesic said her party did not want to take part in "the farce surrounding Zuzul", and that the fact that the HSLS had different views on certain issues did not mean that it wanted to destroy the ruling coalition.