TOMAC, BROLICH ON DISSOLUTION OF ZAGREB CITY ASSEMBLY

ZAGREB, May 1 (Hina) - The former chairman of the Zagreb City Council and the newly-appointed Government Commissioner for Zagreb Stjepan Broelich commented on the Government's decision to dissolve the City Assembly in a Croatian TV news broadcast on Tuesday evening. "I think we have a novel situation here - they are trying to transmogrify Mr. Broelich into two assemblies so that he may then appoint city and county authorities and achieve a weird kind of democracy whose like doesn't exist anywhere in the world," Tomac said. "In these six months, we have made every effort to act upon the will of the citizens by all legal and legitimate means," he said. "I think we have defended their interests well - it is up to them now to oppose these attempts at straitjacketing democracy," he concluded. Commissioner Broelich explained that his role consisted in "standing in for the City and County Assemblies until the election." "Until the last moment, we have tried to find a compromise, we have tried to talk to the representatives of this so-called association (of seven parties) to find some solution and prevent the Assembly being dissolved, but there was no other solution," he said. "We wanted the Assembly sessions to discuss the social program, ways to improve living conditions and other problems present in this city," he said. "But the Assembly was turned into a political arena and this could not be tolerated," he concluded. (hina) as 011426 MET may 96