ZAGREB, July 9 (Hina) - Prime Minister Ivica Racan said on Monday parliament would vote on confidence in the government on Sunday, and that Croatian Army General Rahim Ademi was willing to appear in The Hague if he was on the war
crimes tribunal's indictment.
ZAGREB, July 9 (Hina) - Prime Minister Ivica Racan said on Monday
parliament would vote on confidence in the government on Sunday,
and that Croatian Army General Rahim Ademi was willing to appear in
The Hague if he was on the war crimes tribunal's indictment.#L#
"I can say from talks with the President of the Republic that Ademi,
if he is indicted, is willing to appear before The Hague and defend
himself, and the government is willing to help with his defence,"
Racan told a regular press conference in Zagreb.
The PM accused the former, pre-2000 government of having damaged
Ademi and Croatia by banning him from taking part in interviews with
the Hague tribunal.
"General Ademi was prohibited even in written form to participate
in talks with the Hague tribunal," Racan said.
He reiterated the Hague indictments referred to two Croatian
citizens, and that he could still not talk about the indictments'
content and the objections he had lodged in written form. He is not
familiar with the two indictees' whereabouts.
The PM said parliament would vote on confidence in the incumbent
government on Sunday, July 15. If parliament takes a vote of
confidence, the government will be reshuffled, he added.
Racan said he had refused the resignation of his deputy Goran
Granic, saying it was an important matter and Granic's work
valuable to the government. Granic "has contributed to preventing
the government from working through party divisions. Therefore I
refused his resignation," he said.
As for the resignations of three other ministers from the Social
Liberals (HSLS), one of the five parties making up the ruling
coalition, Rados, Fizulic, and Kraljevic, Racan said his attitude
to their resignations would depend on their relationship with the
government, the government's commitments and four-year programme
which in part also refers to cooperation with The Hague.
"I will not accept blackmail and conditions regardless of who they
come from," the PM said when asked what he would do if the other
coalition partners refused to keep the HSLS among their ranks.
Racan said the answer to the question if Drazen Budisa was still the
Social Democrats' (SDP) chief coalition partner and if the HSLS was
still in the government and in power was up to Budisa. "If the answer
depended only on myself, I wish it were so. But at this moment the
answer... does not depend on... Racan but on... Budisa," the PM
said.
As in the past couple of days, Racan declined to speculate about the
outcome of parliament's vote of confidence in the government. He
said the government had done its share of the work and expected
parliament to stay on the line of responsibility.
A vote of no confidence paves the way to crisis and various
interpretations world-wide, Racan said, adding they would damage
Croatia. He added such interpretations had already led to a less
favourable issuing of government bonds in London in the past week.
If parliament takes a vote of confidence in the government, the PM
will request his coalition partners to say if they support the
government in the difficult task of carrying out reforms, adapting
to the budget's possibilities and respecting the law, including
with regard to The Hague tribunal.
Racan said he could not comment on the content of the Hague
indictments as they were sealed and talking about them prohibited
by the Constitutional Law on cooperation with the tribunal and the
tribunal's rules. He added that not acting accordingly was
punishable, and that Budisa should not have commented on parts of
the indictments.
As for his objections in a letter to chief prosecutor Carla del
Ponte, Racan said there were many and in line with the positions the
government had and would defend with regard to the Homeland Defence
War and the struggle for independence.
We did not succeed in having the indictment altered in those
elements, he said, but added there were no legal possibilities to do
so as the tribunal's rules stipulate an indictment cannot be
changed once it has been confirmed.
Racan said del Ponte had nonetheless expressed willingness to
acknowledge some objections if there was a trial. He added the Hague
tribunal considered all actions of the Croatian armed and police
forces as legitimate, and that Croatia sought a consistent
implementation of this position.
The PM said Croatia had received guarantees from The Hague on
several occasions to the effect that there would be no prosecuting
for command responsibility, but that indictments would be filed in
case of responsibility for a specific war crime, when command
responsibility may be added.
As for doubts if to respect the Constitutional Law or not, Racan
said they had been imposed by part of the public and some
politicians. He stressed there must be no such doubts in a
democratic state, and explained the government had been in an
objectively difficult situation, aware that abiding by said law
would stir discontent in a small part of the Croatian public.
Racan said the fate of the government was not important but that of
Croatia was, namely if Croatia would resume growing as a
democratic, law-based state which was heading for Europe, away from
the darkness of the Balkans.
He reiterated announcements of road blockades and violence were not
directed against the government but the vital interests of Croatia
and its citizens. A responsible government is obliged to prevent
the jeopardising of those interests and will react resolutely by
resorting to all means as stipulated by law, Racan said.
(hina) ha sb