POREC GROUP STRESSES IMPORTANCE OF COOPERATION IN OPPOSITION

SPLIT, Feb 7 (Hina) - Leaders of the Porec Group gathering three opposition parties, on Saturday agreed on taking some measures and initiatives in order to ensure the victory of the Opposition Six at the forthcoming parliamentary elections in Croatia. The two-day Split meeting of the presidents of the parties of the Porec Group - Vlado Gotovac of the Liberal Party (LS), Radimir Cacic (HNS) and Ivan Jakovcic (IDS) - which had been convened to discuss the cooperation in the run-up to the elections, concluded with the signing of an agreement and the adoption of the "Split Statement of the Porec Group". According to the agreement, the Porec Group will not cooperate with the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) in the pre-election, election and post-election periods, since it can thereby contribute to the soundness and clarity of the programme of the Opposition Six. The Split Statement, distributed to reporters on Saturday night, emphasised that the aims of the Porec Group would be to win at the election within the Opposition Six, to rehabilitate the country's economy, reduce authorities of the President of State, de- politicise the military and police, reduce the state expenditure, cut a budget and have independent judiciary and media. The Group maintained that Croatia had been pushed into a serious moral, economic, social and legal crisis, and the proof for this, according to the Group, were the heavy national debt, 17 percent rate of the unemployment, the establishment of headquarters for the protection of companies, as well as the fact that the HDZ had neither vision nor strength to deliver the country from such a situation. The LS leader Gotovac, who addressed reporters on behalf of the group, said the HDZ was not willing to improve the relations with the Opposition, Instead, the ruling party was causing sharp deterioration in the relations, Gotovac added. He told reporters that the cooperation within the Porec Group would be increasingly strengthened and added that the Group would be open for other parties. He confirmed that a process had started for the Action of Croatian Social Democrats' (ASH) joining the Group. (hina) ms ,