SDP COMMENTS ON HDZ CONVENTION IN SPLIT

SPLIT, Sept 28 (Hina) - The Social Democratic Party (SDP) issued a statement on Sunday saying that the strongest opposition party, the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), based its election platform on "unscrupulous attacks on the present government and stirring up irrational sentiments in the electorate". #L# The statement was prompted by an HDZ convention in the southern coastal city of Split on Saturday, which heard that people were angry at the government's policy towards Dalmatia. The SDP, the leading party in the ruling coalition government, dismissed such accusations as "ridiculous", saying that the present government had realised the dream of people of Dalmatia and entire Croatia by building the Split-Zagreb motorway. "The HDZ just talked about it, making promises, but was incapable of delivering them (while it was in power)", the statement said. After the HDZ lost elections in 2000 and the general atmosphere in the country changed, the coalition that came to power "has made Croatia an attractive and acceptable country to entire Europe," the SDP said. The Split convention shows that the HDZ has nothing to offer in the forthcoming elections but "smear the present government and worship their leader (Ivo Sanader)". "We have had enough of leaders and we leave them to history," said the statement signed by the leader of the Split branch of the SDP, Marin Jurjevic. (hina) vm