FORMER ZAGREB CITY HEADS TURN OVER AUTHORITY

ZAGREB, Mar 13 (Hina) - A government commissioner for the City of Zagreb, Josip Kregar, and former city heads, mayor Marina Matulovic-Dropulic and City Assembly president Zlatko Canjuga, on Monday carried out the transfer of authority. The government on Friday dissolved the City Assembly after 26 of 50 councillors tendered their resignations, and the same day appointed a commissioner to manage all city matters until local elections. "The most important thing in this transitional period is for me to prevent the city from running into debt," said Kregar, adding he had been given the former mayor's full support in this. Kregar and Matulovic-Dropulic agreed city officials should submit reports on the state of affairs in their area within 24 hours, namely by the end of tomorrow's working hours. Kregar announced he would expedite a state audit which should inspect the financial operations of the City Authorities and Assembly. He told the press the president of the dissolved City Assembly, Zlatko Canjuga, had also turned over his duty. The BMW Canjuga used will be evaluated and sold, and the money go to humanitarian or similar purposes, Kregar said, adding a more modest car was sufficient for city needs. Speaking about Canjuga's announcement that he would file complaints to the administrative and constitutional courts in connection with the resignations of Ranko Marinkovic and Miroslav Sutej, two Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) councillors, Kregar said the matter was completely clear from the legal point of view. The two HDZ councillors on Friday joined 24 councillors from the Opposition in tendering resignations, thus creating conditions calling for the dissolution of the City Assembly. After the government the same day passed a decision dissolving the Zagreb City Assembly and appointing a commissioner, Canjuga said the two HDZ councillors had withdrawn their resignations and announced a complaint. "I was given assurances the whole procedure in which the resignations were given and signed had been done in an entirely legal manner, that the resignations had been signed by hand, and that a request had been forwarded to the government to dissolve the City Assembly," Kregar said after today's turn-over of authority. He announced he would carry out all necessary political and legal preparations this week, in co-operation with political parties, and that he would notify Premier Ivica Racan and Justice and Administration Minister Stjepan Ivanisevic about the state of affairs he encountered in the capital. Kregar will then set a date and other details in connection with the calling of local elections. His wish is for the elections to be quick and cost-effective, which he said was in the interest of all citizens. The deadline for appealing the government decision on the dissolution of the city assembly is 15 days, while elections have to take place within the next two months. An interesting fact is that the formerly ruling HDZ won the majority of 26 councillors in the City Assembly by having two from the Opposition (Croatian Peasants' Party) join HDZ's ranks after local elections in 1997. That marked the end of the so called Zagreb Crisis which had begun after local elections in 1995. At the 1995 elections, the HDZ won 17 seats in the Zagreb City Assembly, a seven Opposition party coalition 31, and the Croatian Party of Rights two seats. The President of the Republic would not confirm any of the four mayor candidates the Opposition coalition proposed, believing the HDZ, as individually the strongest party in the city assembly, had the right to the mayor's seat. He appointed Matulovic-Dropulic mayor of Zagreb and prefect of Zagreb County. After the City of Zagreb was separated from Zagreb County by law in 1997, new local elections were held. Elected were the members of the recently dissolved City Assembly. (hina) ha jn