HDZ CENTRAL COMMITTEE HEARS REPORTS ON OPPOSITION PARTIES

ZAGREB, Feb 24 (Hina) - In the continuation of its session on Saturday, the Central Committee of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) heard reports on attitudes of opposition parties towards the HDZ. HDZ secretary general Zlatko Canjuga spoke about the attitude of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and other left-wing parties. He expressed fears that orthodox Communists, encouraged by events in Eastern and Southeastern Europe, may try to push their way through along with the Social Democrats "in a bid to restore Socialism or even worst - Yugoslavia or Euroslavia." Some left-wing parties condemned the HDZ for communism, totalitarianism, bolshevism and dictatorship, which was absurd because the HDZ had been established to fight against them, Canjuga stressed. Ivic Pasalic focused his report on the attitude of the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS), saying that there was an important difference between the HDZ and other political parties in Croatia, including the HSLS, in that the HDZ had been more resolute than other parties in its demands for the right of the Croatian people to self-determination and to create their own state. Pasalic said that the HSLS had made a number of misjudgments of the crisis in Bosnia and cited a document by HSLS aimed at destabilizing the HDZ and provoking an early election at all costs. He said that the newly-elected president of the HSLS, Vlado Gotovac, had not forgiven the voters who had not voted for him and that he had called them and the Croatian people "a national herd". Marino Golob dedicated his report to the Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS). He warned that the IDS tried to win recognition for Istrians as a separate ethnic group and that its program declaration contained anticonstitutional categories of autonomy and regionalism in Istria. The Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) was the only party of the opposition alliance (New Parliament 1995) which could have won enough votes to cross the election threshold of five percent, said Ivan Milas. By joining the opposition coalition of small parties, the HSS attempted to overthrow the nation-building HDZ party, he added. Speaking of right-wing and Christian Democratic parties, Luka Bebic warned that Croatia had often been accused of allegedly encouraging the revival of fascism although it had been done by those "who have until recently posed for photographs in black uniforms." "Such activities are the result of direct cooperation between some circles and the UDBA (Yugoslav intelligence)," Bebic said without specifying who it referred to. (hina) vm jn 242244 MET feb 96