PASALIC: GOVERNMENT HAS ABANDONED CONSENSUS IN 'BOBETKO CASE'

ZAGREB, Oct 23 (Hina) - The president of the Croatian Bloc (HB) party, Ivic Pasalic, said on Wednesday that yesterday's statement by Prime Minister Ivica Racan about the "Bobetko case" was an obvious example that the Croatian government has given up a consensus regarding the Hague-based international war crimes tribunal's indictment against general Janko Bobetko and his extradition. #L# Pasalic told reporters that Racan's statement was, unfortunately, departure from the consensus which had been reached at a high level during a parliamentary discussion on the indictment. The government and prime minister are exclusively responsible for the unilateral move of abandoning the consensus, and this will have long-term consequences because of the division of political forces to those which are for and those which oppose Bobetko's extradition to the Hague tribunal, Pasalic said. He added that it would have been better had the prime minister and parliamentary president agreed to call a parliamentary session to hold another discussion on the Bobetko indictment. Pasalic said it was unacceptable for politicians to discuss about whether General Bobetko should be hospitalised or not, because only the patient or his family and physicians should make this decision. Instead of hiding behind the general's illness, the government should consistently defend its stance, Pasalic asserted. "The Croatian Bloc still opposes Bobetko's hand-over to The Hague, because his trial would be a trial against the Croatian state," he said. (hina) lml