LIBRA LEADER: WE SUPPORT COALITION GOVERNMENT

ZAGREB, Dec 21 (Hina) - The president of the Libra party has said that despite problems in the first coalition government the governing of the country is incomparably better than it was during the rule of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). #L# Libra, one of the five parties in the current ruling coalition, was set up three months ago after a rift in the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS), caused by a decision of a part of the HSLS leadership to leave the ruling coalition and join the Opposition. Reiterating support for the Ivica Racan cabinet, Jozo Rados said at a session of the Libra Council on Saturday that the establishment of the party was the right move and that Libra, a party of liberal democrats, was developing at a good pace. Rados said that HSLS members had worked responsibly in the coalition government for three years and that the government had achieved significant results with regard to macreoeconomic stability and the country's international position. Rados pointed to a four-percent rise in the Gross Domestic Product, a 20-percent rise in net salaries, the democratisation of the country and of the public and political life, freedom of the media, progress in bids to draw closer to the European Union, as well as to a new stand-by arrangement with the International Monetary Fund. Despite shortcomings "and the chaos caused in the media by para- political structures", the current situation is much better than the HDZ's autocratic rule and the orchestrated media support for the former authorities, Rados said. Rados believes that the Opposition is confusing the public, because it only pays lip service to the country's entry to the EU, which is not possible without cooperation with the IMF, the Hague-based UN tribunal or other international institutions. He announced that Libra would not back the government if differences in the coalition grew too big and if party rather than national interests were defended. (hina) ms