ZAGREB, June 21 (Hina) - The president of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Ivo Sanader, presented the party's strategic economic plan at the HDZ Eighth General Assembly in Zagreb on Saturday.
ZAGREB, June 21 (Hina) - The president of the Croatian Democratic
Union (HDZ), Ivo Sanader, presented the party's strategic economic
plan at the HDZ Eighth General Assembly in Zagreb on Saturday. #L#
A merciless battle against corruption, lower taxes, fewer
ministries, and export stimulation are the key aspects of the HDZ
plan as outlined by Sanader.
He voiced confidence his party would win at the next parliamentary
election.
"We are certainly winning the election. I will bet anyone in
Croatia, for any price," Sanader said to the applause of about 5,500
envoys attending the event.
Sanader said HDZ would be the party that took Croatia into the
European Union and NATO.
He reiterated forming a coalition with the left-wing or the centre-
left was out of the question, and called on voters not to vote for
parties formed by ex-HDZ members, claiming they would not cross the
electoral threshold.
Sanader stressed Croatia was willing to cooperate with the U.N. war
crimes tribunal in The Hague, but said the HDZ would not consent to
having Operations Flash and Storm dubbed the ethnic cleansing of
Croatian Serbs or genocide.
"We were occupied for four years. What were we to do -- let it last?
Of course we prepared an armed force and we would do it again."
He called on Croatian Serb refugees to return to Croatia, saying it
was their homeland. Their property in Croatia is inviolable, he
said, urging the government to provide displaced Croats with
permanent and adequate accommodation.
The HDZ advocates Croatia's accession to the EU and insists on
partnership with the United States, Sanader said, expressing
regret over divisions in the EU with regard to the endorsement of
the U.S. action in Iraq.
Sanader said the HDZ could not reconcile itself to the currently
poor economic situation, citing unemployment as the main problem.
He pointed the finger at the authorities for lacking the will to
resolve this and deceiving trade unions, pensioners, war veterans,
emigrants, and Bosnian Croats.
"These authorities are not in power, but they don't know it."
The HDZ Eighth General Assembly is held under the motto "Let's Move
Croatia". The party Statute was changed, with more powers given to
the party Presidency. The president's term of office was extended
from two to four years.
(hina) ha sb