TALKS BETWEEN RULING HDZ AND OPPOSITION PARTIES

ZAGREB, June 16 (Hina) - "We have completed one stage of negotiations between the (ruling) HDZ party and the opposition parties, but we have reached no agreement as the opposition has taken a more resolute stand today than it did at the last meeting, said HDZ secretary-general Jure Radic after today's round of talks on distribution of leading parliamentary posts. On behalf of the opposition, Ivica Racan confirmed that the sides "are further from reaching an agreement today than they were yesterday." Asked to specify what he exactly meant about that "resolute stand," Radic said: "They kept denying the legitimacy of the last (May 24) session of the House of Representatives, which we cannot accept." The House of Representatives convened on May 24 under the chairmanship of First Deputy Speaker Zarko Domljan. Seventy-three deputies (70 from HDZ, one independent and two ethnic minority deputies) were present. Before the session began, Deputy Speaker Domljan called the opposition members, closeted in a nearby chamber, to join the session. Speaker Stipe Mesic was given ten minutes to take up the chairmanship. As time passed and Mesic failed to appear, the remaining deputies proceeded to relieve Stipe Mesic of his duty as speaker and elected Nedeljko Mihanovic instead. The opposition has been boycotting the sitting ever since. 161654 MET jun 94