OPPOSITION LEADERS EXPECT EARLY ELECTIONS

ZAGREB, March 5 (Hina) - Commenting on an agreement the ruling coalition's five parties reached about overcoming the crisis on Tuesday, opposition leaders said the coalition will not last much longer and that new elections should be expected. The president of the Croatian Party of Rights, Anto Djapic, described the agreement as a tragicomedy, a patching up of holes and a fire-fighting measure which only delays the coalition's break- up. Djapic said the coalition leaders agreed about the division of seats, and announced early elections. Things on the Croatian political scene are changing by the hour, with only the economic and social conditions remaining unchanged and cemented, said Damir Kajin, vice president of the Istrian Democratic Assembly. He said the biggest oversight of the ruling coalition was its failure to replace the semi-presidential system with parliamentary democracy. The possibility of early elections is open, said Kajin. According to Mate Granic of the Democratic Centre, if the coalition parties confirm today's agreement, Prime Minister Ivica Racan will have managed to preserve the government, and Drazen Budisa to defuse tension among his Social Liberals. "This does not mean, however, that the government will be stable. Everything depends on how the government will deal with the major issues in the economy, relations with the Hague tribunal and neighbouring countries. These are all big issues and the government will hardly make it to the end of its four-year mandate," said Granic. (hina) ha sb