KARLOVAC: HIP-HB COALITION HOLDS ELECTION RALLY

KARLOVAC, Nov 14 (Hina) - The first candidate on the Croatian True Revival-Croatian Bloc (HIP-HB) coalition slate in constituency no. 7, Dario Vukic, said at an election rally in Karlovac on Friday the HIP-HB coalition was an alliance for Croatia, whose slogan was "Let's change not only the government, but politics as well". #L# HB leader Ivic Pasalic called on the voters, especially those supporting the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), to vote for the HIP-HB coalition because of its position on changes to the law on cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague, opposition to the hand-over of General Ante Gotovina and the sending of Croatian soldiers to Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as its position on Bosnian Croats. He said that the coalition's stand on the said issues differed from those of the HDZ. Pasalic also said that HDZ leader Ivo Sanader had, in an uncritical manner, called on "the Serbs who fled Croatia to return, without having to meet any conditions, in large numbers and as soon as possible". "As if it was forgotten that the fate of 1,200 imprisoned and missing people is still not known and that issues like the border, war reparations, and the like have not been resolved yet." HIP leader Miroslav Tudjman said the incumbent government had increased Croatia's debt from US$9 to 21 billion, offered a reward for information on Gotovina's whereabouts, abandoned Croats in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and severed all ties with Croatian emigrants. He also voiced dissatisfaction with the government's agreement to Balkan associations. The HIP-HB coalition supports cooperation with Europe, but insists that Croatia should be a strong and proud country with a sovereign economy and should enter European associations as "a partner, not as a colony", Tudjman said. (hina) rml sb