"By refusing to convene the Council, President Mesic has caused suspicion as to why he is acting that way," Sanader told reporters in the government building.
Sanader said the reasons why Mesic was refusing to convene the Council with him were all the more unclear because in four previous cases - two appointments and two dismissals - the two of them had reached agreement to seek the opinion of the parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs and National Security.
"If such practice existed before, it should have been respected in this case as well," Sanader said announcing that he would make the first step and talk with the President of the Republic on the phone this afternoon.
Sanader explained that the National Security Council did not decide about dismissals and appointments and that this was done by the prime minister and the president of the state, but that the Council did consider reports by supervisory services, as was the case with the Counter-intelligence Agency (POA).
The Council also has the right to discuss supervision by the Council for the Civil Control of Security Services, the report by the Office of the National Security Council, and the report by the parliamentary Committee on National Security, the PM said, adding that there was no reason to further aggravate the situation.
After a debate on the report by the Council for the Civil Control of Security Services about the case of reporter Helena Puljiz, the parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs and National Security on November 16 concluded that it was not able to establish beyond any doubt that the POA had violated the reporter's rights while interrogating her, and proposed that an investigation should be carried out by a third institution - the Office of the National Security Council.
The Office of the National Security Council submitted a report to the Committee which discussed it today.
Sanader said that before making any decisions he would wait for the procedure to be completed and that last Saturday he had requested the chairman of the parliamentary committee to inform him of the committee's debate and findings.
"I think that the president of the state should have done the same," he said.
"The president of the state tried to present me with an accomplished fact, I refused it and still refuse it, because I have to protect the constitutional function which I perform," Sanader said.
He reiterated that President Mesic had launched his presidential campaign in an inappropriate way by acting the way he did.
The PM proposed declassifying the Office of the National Security Council's report.
The report contains no reason whatsoever to replace POA director Josko Podbevsek. If President Mesic knows of reasons which are not in the Council's report, he must state them, otherwise his behaviour gives rise to suspicion, Sanader said.
The PM would not comment on a reporter's question about the credibility of Puljiz's statement, stating that this was not the issue of contention with Mesic.
"I believe that other reasons are involved here, not the ones stated by President Mesic," Sanader said.
The spokesman for the government, Ratko Macek, said this afternoon that PM Sanader had talked with President Mesic on the phone.
The PM talked with President Mesic as previously announced, and they agreed to contact one another tomorrow again and convene the Council for National Security, Macek said.
(Hina) rml