CROATIAN OPPOSITION CRITICISES GOVT'S RESTRICTIVE MEASURES

ZAGREB, Aug 24 (Hina) - In their first reactions to a government's package of measures reducing social rights, most Croatian opposition parties have disapproved of the measures. The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) believes the measures are another proof that the government has been conducting a socially insensitive policy. Lacking the strength and ability to solve the economic crisis and patch up sizeable holes in the budget, the government has struck on the most vulnerable social categories, reads a statement the party issued today, slamming the incumbent authorities "for settling accounts with the most prominent participants in the Homeland War." The HDZ believes the government is leading the society into poverty and that such "amateurish, socially insensitive and ethnically uncommitted authorities" cannot stay at the helm of Croatia. The Croatian Christian Democratic Union (HKDU) says the government's proposal to reduce social rights is questionable because it is not based on a clear concept and strategy of economic development in Croatia. Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) president Anto Djapic says his party supports in principle the introduction of order into the area of social rights, however, cancelling or reducing social rights will not help Croatia overcome the economic crisis. Instead of implementing the dictate of the International Monetary Fund and reducing public spending, the government should work more toward drawing up an economic strategy and increasing production in order to secure permanent sources for the financing of social rights, Djapic told Hina on the phone. (hina) sb rml