PENSIONERS CONTRIBUTED SIGNIFICANTLY TO OPPOSITION'S VICTORY

ZAGREB, Jan 4 (Hina) - The Opposition's victory at Monday's election for the Croatian Parliament's House of Representatives was expected but the high result would have been impossible hadn't it been for one million Croatian pensioners, a vice-president of the Croatian Pensioners' Union (SUH), Ivan Nahtigal, told reporters on Tuesday. "The old authority has made so many mistakes and conducted a policy which was against pensioners and workers, which makes the Opposition's victory very logical. I, as a SUH representative, am glad that we have managed to make pensioners realise what their interests are," Nahtigal said. He recalled the signing of an agreement between the two then opposition coalitions with three pensioners' associations - the SUH, the Croatian Pensioners' Society, and the society 'Croatian Pensioner'. "The new authority cannot solve the problems of pensioners overnight, but it can change the attitude toward those problems," Nahtigal said, recalling that the new government, together with pensioners' representatives, would within six months from the constitution of the Parliament, draw up a law on returning the state's debt to pensions. However, when they will receive compensation for their unpaid pensions will depend on the creation or loss of jobs in Croatia, Nahtigal added. (hina) rml