TOMISLAV MERCEP HOLDS ELECTORAL RALLY IN VUKOVAR

VUKOVAR, Jan 20 (Hina) - Presidential candidate of the Croatian Popular Party (HPS) Tomislav Mercep said at Thursday's rally in Vukovar that Croatia has had "enough lies and misleading" and that it "deserves the truth for it to be happy". "I want my people to live well and honourably off of their work, and that Croatia becomes a country of order, work and decent challenge," Mercep said, adding that financial institutions were necessary in eastern Slavonia to help economic revival. "Should the state have wished to do so, Mercep would still be in the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ)," he stressed. Mercep added that "honest Croatians who do not fear work and have always live off of it are not without jobs and livelihood". The victory of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) - Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS) coalition at the recent parliamentary elections was a Pyrric victory, Mercep said, adding "communists won so they could climb down from the Croatian political scene". "The Croatian people and state deserve an honest president who proved himself through his life and is not afraid to speak his mind," Mercep said. (hina) lml mm