ZAGREB, Feb 11 (Hina) - Heads of the six parties of the ruling coalition on Sunday evening met to discuss protests held today across Croatia and decided not to accept ultimatums included in a declaration read today at a protest in the
southern Adriatic city of Split. President of the Croatian Peasants' Party (HSS) and parliament speaker Zlatko Tomcic said that demands from the declaration were not a foundation for dialogue. Tomcic told a press conference this was a foundation for the radicalisation of the political scene in Croatia because it focuses on early elections and an attempt of creating the Croatian block with an aim to subvert the current authorities in an illegal way. The declaration demanded the end of the prosecution of the general and all Croatian Homeland War veterans, the end of cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and early electio
ZAGREB, Feb 11 (Hina) - Heads of the six parties of the ruling
coalition on Sunday evening met to discuss protests held today
across Croatia and decided not to accept ultimatums included in a
declaration read today at a protest in the southern Adriatic city of
Split.
President of the Croatian Peasants' Party (HSS) and parliament
speaker Zlatko Tomcic said that demands from the declaration were
not a foundation for dialogue. Tomcic told a press conference this
was a foundation for the radicalisation of the political scene in
Croatia because it focuses on early elections and an attempt of
creating the Croatian block with an aim to subvert the current
authorities in an illegal way.
The declaration demanded the end of the prosecution of the general
and all Croatian Homeland War veterans, the end of cooperation with
the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
(ICTY), and early elections.
Tomcic pointed to a threat expressed at today's protest in Split
saying that "either the puppet government or the Republic of
Croatia" would fall, and accused the Croatian Democratic Union of
being the initiator of such requests.
In his opinion, the events which followed the arrest of retired
general Mirko Norac, were an attempt of manipulating the Croatian
Homeland Defence War veterans. The ruling coalition called upon war
veterans to object this.
State institutions and rule-of-law must function, therefore the
ruling coalition will not accept any ultimatum from today's
declaration read in Split, the parliament speaker stressed.
President of the Croatian People's Party (HNS) Vesna Pusic said
that "at the moment this is a struggle for the preservation of the
institutional integrity of the Croatian state and the coalition has
an obligation to protect legal institutions of the state".
President of the Croatian Social Liberal party (HSLS) Drazen Budisa
stressed that, while they were the opposition, the current
authorities were often dissatisfied with HDZ victories at previous
elections, however, they never questioned constitutional and legal
foundations of the Croatian State.
Budisa reminded that the current authorities did not extradite
anyone to the Hague Tribunal, while "the HDZ extradited some
people, even those who were later acquitted by The Hague".
Social Democratic Party vice president Mato Arlovic called upon
citizens and associations not to stand still for the HDZ which wants
to use them for its political purposes.
Tomcic, Pusic, Budisa and Arlovic agreed that the issue of early
elections was legitimate, however it could not be started by the
methods of blackmail, violence and chaos.
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