MP GOLOB CONDEMNS "MANIPULATIONS" WITH CONGRESS OF ISTRIANS

PULA, Apr 15 (Hina) - After the end of the plenary session of the first world Congress of Istrians this morning, Member of Parliament Marino Golob read out the alternative text of the Congress' final declaration. Golob is heading a group of participants who were not satisfied with the officially proposed declaration, but were given no opportunity to say so during the session. Golob's own attempt to discuss the declaration had been abruptly cut short by the chair, who switched off his mike. "The Congress has not been conducted in a tolerant atmosphere," Golob told reporters gathered in the lobby of the Histria Hotel, where the congress took place. "It is inadmissible that I was prevented from discussing the proposed declaration and that my mike was switched off when I tried to speak," he remonstrated. "Coexistence, which has been invoked by all and sundry as the motto of this gathering, is really a blind for something quite different," he argued. The way the Congress was "organised and directed from behind the scenes" reminded Golob of the methods of Serb chauvinist populism. "Most of the IDS party (Istrian Democratic Alliance) is manipulated by those who want to overthrow the Croatian state," Golob asserted. He was seconded by MP Ivan Stanic of the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS) who said that an intolerant atmosphere pervaded the proceedings since the beginning, referring to the significant ommission to play the Croatian national anthem. "The HSLS cannot accept the official declaration because does not eflect the views of all the participants," Stanic said. (hina) as 151510 MET apr 95