ZAGREB, Dec 8 (Hina) - Speaking to reporters after consultations with President Stjepan Mesic on the appointment of a premier-designate, outgoing Prime Minister Ivica Racan said on Monday he was interested in the nomination being made
as soon as possible.
ZAGREB, Dec 8 (Hina) - Speaking to reporters after consultations
with President Stjepan Mesic on the appointment of a premier-
designate, outgoing Prime Minister Ivica Racan said on Monday he
was interested in the nomination being made as soon as possible.
#L#
"We expect it to be done by New Year's Day, when it will be
definitely clear which are the ruling parties in the Croatian
parliament and which are the opposition, i.e. who supports the
government and who doesn't," Racan said.
He announced his Social Democratic Party (SDP) would not vote for
the new government.
Racan declined to speculate on how long the Ivo Sanader cabinet
might last, adding that he wished them all the best.
"I'm leaving content because I feel the government I headed did more
or less everything it could."
"I think we helped this country become more normal, more democratic
and more tolerant than it was four years ago. This climate
surrounding the forming of the new government speaks in favour of
that too. I am pleased with what has been done," said Racan.
He assessed Sanader's proposal to downsize the government as a good
move, recalling that he himself had considered it about two years
into his term. He added, however, that he had not had the support of
the ruling coalition.
Present at the Racan-Mesic consultations were SDP vice presidents
Zeljka Antunovic and Mato Arlovic.
(hina) ha sb