SPLIT, Sept 30 (Hina) - Croatia's parliament speaker said on Saturday today's proclamation by the strongest opposition party urging early parliamentary elections for the House of Representatives was a "non-democratic and irresponsible
act on HDZ's part."
SPLIT, Sept 30 (Hina) - Croatia's parliament speaker said on
Saturday today's proclamation by the strongest opposition party
urging early parliamentary elections for the House of
Representatives was a "non-democratic and irresponsible act on
HDZ's part."#L#
The Croatian Democratic Union's (HDZ) proclamation is "in
accordance with a complete radicalisation of political relations
in Croatia which can ultimately cause a split in the Croatian
national corps," Zlatko Tomcic told a news conference in the
central Adriatic town of Trogir.
He said the members on the HDZ Head Committee "are being
contradictory, and their proclamation can be interpreted as pure
farce. On the one hand they appeal for peace, dignity and tolerance,
while on the other they call on the Croatian people to subvert the
'communist regime'."
Tomcic asserted Croatia was not ruled by communists but a coalition
of six parties.
"If the HSS assessed that communists were in power in Croatia, I
definitely wouldn't take part in performing state duties," said
Tomcic, the president of the Croatian Peasants' Party (HSS), one of
the ruling six.
He believes the HDZ, which lost elections in January after almost
ten years in power, "is using manipulation to cover up intra-party
problems," and is sure the aim of the proclamation is to prevent
actions directed at shedding light on HDZ's "improprieties from the
past."
Commenting on yesterday's decision by the president of the republic
to send seven active army generals into retirement, the parliament
speaker said the president based the decision on constitutional
powers. "With that move, the president of the republic wanted to
tell all active officers in the HV (Croatian army) that their place
is in the barracks and not in politics," he said.
Tomcic added he was confident Defence Minister Jozo Rados would
support the president's decision, dismissing public conjectures
that Rados might resign as "purest speculation."
Asked if national security was jeopardised in the wake of the
generals' retirement decision, Tomcic said it "would be sad if
their retirement jeopardised the state's national security,
because in that case we really have nothing to talk about."
(hina) ha