PRESIDENT OF HSLS CALLS FOR PREMIER'S RESIGNATION

ZAGREB, Aug 30 (Hina) - President of the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS) Drazen Budisa on Friday called on Prime Minister Ivica Racan and the entire government to submit their resignations because he believes they have "no political or moral legitimacy" to solve important issues such as the Piran Bay conflict and relations with Slovenia. #L# "The current Croatian government was not founded according to the will of the electorate and does not have any political or moral legitimacy to seek approval from the parliament for its decision over the contentious issue with Slovenia concerning Piran Bay to be solved by international arbitration," Budisa said at a press conference. He reminded that the government had until now never asked for national consensus over any significant issue. The government entered into negotiations with Slovenia without previous consultations with or knowledge of its coalition partners and without the Border Commission which has been dissolved. Budisa expressed doubt that the even the President was informed. He claimed that the premier's and entire government's resignation would revive the principle of political responsibility in Croatia and politics could once again be considered credible. Budisa said that there were minimum chances to come to any level of agreement concerning arbitration and it was realistic to expect that Slovenia would insist on the initialled agreement which was politically binding because all of Croatia's ministers voted for the agreement. Budisa sees a solution in the founding of a temporary agreement on the use of Piran Bay which would not bring sovereignty into question. According to the initialled agreement, the demarcation line in Piran Bay between Croatia and Slovenia is absolutely inadequate and damaging for Croatia, and yielding a section of Croatia's sea to Slovenia with passage to the open sea could be an international precedent with serious repercussions for Croatia and other countries. Believing that territorial waters of a sovereign state cannot exist without a mainland, Budisa noted that, according to the logic of the initialled agreement, this could give some other countries a legal basis to seek what Slovenia had been given. Budisa expressed concern that the two friendly countries had been brought to the current position which was leading to daily increasing political tension. Budisa condemned radical, extremist statements that added more tension to the situation. He welcomed the possibility of a discussion in the Croatian parliament about overall relations with Slovenia and the announcement of a meeting of the two countries' premiers. He also estimated that this question would be resolved by some other government in Croatia. (hina) sp lml sb