PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE BUDISA HOLDS CENTRAL RALLY FOR S. CROATIA

SPLIT, Jan 18 (Hina) - Presidential candidate Drazen Budisa on Tuesday told a central pre-electoral rally in the southern port of Split he and future premier Ivica Racan would in cooperation with parliament revise privatisation and prosecute crime, and implement the SDP/HSLS coalition programme in its entirety. Budisa is the presidential candidate of the coalition made of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS), which won January 3 parliamentary elections. If elected Croatia's new president, Budisa said he would step out of his party, the HSLS, to become "the president of all Croatian citizens." "The SDP/HSLS alliance, created here in Split, acquired a historical dimension and made changes in the state possible. In this city two men (he and SDP's Racan) whose lives have been different signed an agreement, realising that Croatia must be reconciliated, that history would not determine our future, even though we are not ashamed of it," Budisa said. His chief presidential task will be the preservation of the independence and unity of the Croatian people, he stressed. Budisa will reduce the president's powers, and cut by two thirds the costs of the president's office. "The president of state must live with the people, there is no room for luxury or residential living," he asserted. SDP president Ivica Racan urged today's rally to vote for Budisa at January 24 presidential elections because, he said, "we need a president who will cooperate with us, and not give orders, a president who is not just nice, but responsible as well." Racan said he and Budisa would return to Split in six months and outline what they had done. (hina) ha