HSLS REBELS DIRECTLY INFLUENCED BY SDP - HSLS PRESIDENT

ZAGREB, July 18 (Hina) - The group of dissatisfied Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS) members who announced that they were leaving the party and founding a new one, are being directly led by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and will soon be dragged into a campaign not only against the HSLS but also against other coalition parties that show any measure of independence, HSLS President Drazen Budisa said on Thursday. #L# Speaking at a press conference, Budisa estimated that the motive for the HSLS dissidents was not to preserve liberal values but as they themselves have said, to preserve their positions in the government. Evidence of these claims, Budisa said, lies in the fact that the Independent Liberals rejected his recommendation that they forfeit their mandates in the parliament and to leave the government. During the election, the group, Budisa said, led HSLS's campaign in the government and were directly under the influence of the SDP. He stressed that he did not regret joining in the coalition with the SDP which was gathered in an attempt to oust the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) but did not have any internal strength to transform Croatia economically or democratically. Budisa believes that the future will show who is guilty for the problems in the coalition and that this was not the HSLS. He called on his former coalition partners to clearly state what great reform projects the HSLS was apparently blocking. He thanked his former party associates for leaving the party and in that way sparing the HSLS from the unpleasant task of having to sack them. In response to charges that the HSLS had departed from liberal values, Budisa replied that this was a mix up of theories. Only in Croatia can former Communists establish criteria that determine what liberal values are, Budisa claimed. He emphasised that the HSLS was founded as an anti-Communist party which opposed totalitarian behaviour, beliefs and ideologies. (hina) sp it