HSLS, DC NEGOTIATING PRE-ELECTION COOPERATION

ZAGREB, Aug 27 (Hina) - The leaderships of the opposition Social Liberals (HSLS) and Democratic Centre (DC) are negotiating pre- election cooperation, HSLS president Drazen Budisa and DC vice president Vesna Skare-Ozbolt said on Wednesday. #L# Skare-Ozbolt told Hina over the telephone the two parties' leaders met yesterday. She added, however, that a detailed agreement on forming a coalition ahead of parliamentary elections had not been reached yet but would be worked out in the next few days. Budisa confirmed at a news conference that the HSLS and DC leaders had been discussing pre-election cooperation. He declined to comment, saying that decisions on cooperation with other parties were up to the HSLS Governing Council, which was due to convene within the next two weeks. According to unofficial sources, the contentious issue in reaching the agreement is which party's candidates will head the roster in one constituency. (hina) ha