ZAGREB, June 23 (Hina) - The president of the Croatian Peasants' Party (HSS) on Wednesday refuted a claim made by the ruling Croatian Democratic Union's (HDZ) chief negotiator who stated that the Opposition Six group had set new
conditions in negotiations and violated an agreement signed on an electoral legislation package. HSS's Zlatko Tomcic accused the HDZ of taking a tough position. "The annex we proposed to the basic agreement does not have any major new feature, apart from the demand to jointly formulate a code of behaviour among parties in the time leading to the elections," Tomcic told reporters after being asked to comment on the claims made by HDZ's Vladimir Seks earlier today. "This isn't a serious violation of the agreement at all," Tomcic said, stressing he was speaking only on his party's behalf. He believes the claim Seks made today was probably an attempt to avoid reaching an a
ZAGREB, June 23 (Hina) - The president of the Croatian Peasants'
Party (HSS) on Wednesday refuted a claim made by the ruling Croatian
Democratic Union's (HDZ) chief negotiator who stated that the
Opposition Six group had set new conditions in negotiations and
violated an agreement signed on an electoral legislation package.
HSS's Zlatko Tomcic accused the HDZ of taking a tough position.
"The annex we proposed to the basic agreement does not have any
major new feature, apart from the demand to jointly formulate a code
of behaviour among parties in the time leading to the elections,"
Tomcic told reporters after being asked to comment on the claims
made by HDZ's Vladimir Seks earlier today.
"This isn't a serious violation of the agreement at all," Tomcic
said, stressing he was speaking only on his party's behalf.
He believes the claim Seks made today was probably an attempt to
avoid reaching an agreement regarding new electoral legislation,
particularly the passing of a law which would help transform
Croatian Radio-Television into a public media.
Tomcic added he believes Seks' claim pointed to the ruling party's
unwillingness to hold immediate talks on a law on electoral units
and to disclose when it intended to schedule the elections.
Tomcic is however certain a final agreement will soon be reached by
consensus, even though, he said, "with this ploy (the HDZ) wants to
postpone the whole issue until September, and schedule the
elections next January."
Asked why he thought the HDZ would resume negotiations soon, Tomcic
said he was sure of it because he believes a tough position on HDZ's
part and a refusal of the opposition's demands could lead Croatia
into international isolation.
(hina) ha jn