ZAGREB, April 21 (Hina) - Ivo Sanader, Ivic Pasalic and Maja Freundlich, who are candidates in a presidential run-up in the strongest opposition party - the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), presented their programmes at the party's
7th convention in Zagreb on Sunday.
ZAGREB, April 21 (Hina) - Ivo Sanader, Ivic Pasalic and Maja
Freundlich, who are candidates in a presidential run-up in the
strongest opposition party - the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ),
presented their programmes at the party's 7th convention in Zagreb
on Sunday. #L#
The candidates addressed the convention in alphabetical order,
with Maja Freundlich, whose candidacy was supported by 447
delegates, taking the floor first. She promised that, if elected
party president, she would reorganise the party to enable it to win
the next parliamentary election and become a party whose goal would
be general welfare, instead of private interests. My programme is a
strong, democratic, and self-confident Croatia which will offer
employment to all, Freundlich said.
She also presented her economic programme and stressed that
cooperation with the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague should be
put on hold. Freundlich said that she would request a new peace
conference on Bosnia-Herzegovina and dismissed any possibility of
the establishment of Balkan associations.
Ivic Pasalic, whose candidacy was supported 550 delegates, also
announced the HDZ's victory in the next elections under his
leadership. Pasalic is confident that the HDZ is the only force that
can save Croatia and considers it important for the party to prepare
for the elections and offer the citizens clear answers to the most
important problems.
Pasalic said that his goal in an early election would be to replace
Prime Minister Ivica Racan and shorten President Stjepan Mesic's
mandate. He also mentioned reinstating dismissed Croatian
generals. The HDZ will not stand by and watch Croats from Bosnia-
Herzegovina disappear, he said, adding that Croatian emigrants
would be part of the national corps.
Pasalic claimed that his rivals Sanader and Freundlich were not his
political opponents and obliged himself to invite them, if elected,
to work together towards party goals - replacing the incumbent
authorities in a democratic way and showing Croatian citizens that
the HDZ can achieve its objectives.
He also reminded about a "campaign" that had been conducted against
him, criticising the current authorities in that context and naming
President Mesic a "clown".
Ivo Sanader, whose candidacy was supported by 871 delegates, said
that the party had to stop the negative trends in society -
unemployment, emigration, the dying out of the population, and
pessimism.
He recalled having asked Prime Minister Racan to refuse the Hague
indictments against generals Ante Gotovina and Rahim Ademi, adding
that the HDZ would not accept the revision of Croatian history and
the criminalisation of the Homeland War.
Today's HDZ, Sanader said, is the strongest Croatian party, a
stable and united force which is capable of dealing with problems.
Sanader believes that the only way President Stjepan Mesic and
Prime Minister Ivica Racan can survive on the political scene is a
rift in the HDZ.
The current party president said that if elected, he, too, would
invite all party colleagues to co-operate because there was only
one party programme, that of late President Franjo Tudjman, based
on which the party would draw up its programme for the parliamentary
election.
(hina) rml sb