ZAGREB, April 19 (Hina) - Explaining his statement that parliamentary elections would not be held before next spring, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said on Saturday he hoped the upcoming tourist season would be good and "all tasks
the results of which will be visible by the end of summer and autumn will be completed".
ZAGREB, April 19 (Hina) - Explaining his statement that
parliamentary elections would not be held before next spring,
Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said on Saturday he hoped the
upcoming tourist season would be good and "all tasks the results of
which will be visible by the end of summer and autumn will be
completed". #L#
"The most important thing is that most plans will be implemented and
that a draft budget will be adopted, so there is no reason to call
elections (in autumn)," Mesic said when asked on what he based his
claims, given that according to some estimates elections would be
held this autumn.
"If the government draws up the budget, the rest of the year will be
comfortable. If it manages to draw up the budget, I believe the
government will not think about calling elections," Mesic told
reporters during a visit to an Easter stand set up in downtown
Zagreb by an association gathering the parents of children with
impaired sight.
Commenting on the aligning of parties of the right centre with the
Croatian Democratic Union, Mesic said their aligning was good as
long as their messages were in line with European values.
He confirmed having reached an agreement with Premier Ivica Racan
on the appointment of the heads of intelligence services, adding
that more about that would be known in a few days.
Asked how disputes between the government, unions and employers
could be solved, Mesic said negotiations between social partners
were always more difficult in transition countries than in
countries with stable market economies.
"We have the same negotiating mechanisms, but we do not have the
same tradition of negotiating. In countries with stable legal
systems negotiations are held at the end of the year, while we
negotiate throughout the year," Mesic said.
Commenting on the government's decision to declassify documents
compiled during the term of Croatia's former defence minister Gojko
Susak, Mesic said the government was bound by a law on cooperation
with the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague to hand over to the
tribunal all requested documents which were not classified as state
secrets. "We have to make available all documents which shed light
on events in the past war period," the president said, adding he did
not know which documents would be transferred.
(hina) rml