OPPOSITION SIX WARNS ABOUT HDZ'S PRIVILEGED POSITION ON HRT

ZAGREB, Oct 15 (Hina) - A group of representatives of parties of the Opposition Six in charge of following the Croatian Television (HTV), said in a statement Friday that they were noticing a misuse of HTV's media broadcasts in promoting candidates of the ruling party through their party and official activities. Representatives of the six opposition parties said they expected such misuse to occur in the future. Opposition parties do not have equal opportunities for an electoral presentation as the ruling party, the statement said, expressing the concern of the six parties that this imbalance could make it more difficult to adopt the Croatian Radio and Television's programme regulations for covering the elections. The six parties will comment on the regulations separately, the statement said. The six also said that in the period from the beginning of October until today, the Croatian Television's information shows evidently gave an advantage to the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) and its president Ante Djapic. The inequality of time slots for the ruling and opposition parties was illustrated with the example of presenting information about the results of municipal elections in Podravske Sesvete in which the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) candidates won a two-thirds majority. The statement also said that reports from the HDZ's press conferences held Fridays were traditionally the longest running, while the activities of opposition parties are covered very scantily. The Opposition Six comprises the Social Democratic Party, the Croatian social Liberal Party, Istrian Democratic Assembly, Croatian People's Party, the Liberal Party and the Croatian Peasants' Party. (hina) lml jn