OPPOSITION PARTIES CRITICISE FOREIGN POLICY COMMITTEE SECRETARY

ZAGREB, April 1 (Hina) - The clubs of deputies of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Libra, the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS), the coalition of the Croatian People's Party (HNS) and the Alliance of Primorje and Gorski Kotar (PGS), and the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) issued a joint statement on Thursday in protest at a statement by Foreign Policy Committee Secretary Milovan Petkovic following a press article about Committee Chairman Neven Jurica.#L# The six opposition parties said that the statement by Petkovic, carried by the media on March 29 as an official response to a press article about Jurica, was "intolerable and unprecedented in the practice of the Sabor". The statement criticised Petkovic for abusing his office in a multiparty parliamentary body as "a party mouthpiece for one member of the committee", adding that the secretary's duty was to help all committee members in their work in an unbiased and professional manner. "Petkovic severely compromised his duty," it added. Petkovic issued a written statement on Monday denying the article published in a daily newspaper about the previous diplomatic work of Foreign Policy Committee Chairman Neven Jurica. He said that the article was "full of lies and insinuation". The opposition parties also criticised Petkovic for giving details of Jurica's diplomatic career and work, saying that Petkovic could not talk about it from his personal experience because he was not a Foreign Ministry employee. The newspaper article accused Jurica of misappropriating funds intended for the construction of the Croatian Embassy in Australia, excessive spending while on service in Norway, and participating in an anti-American demonstration in Zagreb in 2000. The opposition parties rejected allegations by Petkovic that the previous coalition government had created conditions "for purges in the Croatian diplomatic community", saying that this could best be seen in the case of Petkovic himself who "has been in the present position for more than a decade". The six parties expressed their concern over "the absence of any response from Neven Jurica, Sabor Secretary Josip Sesar and Sabor Speaker Vladimir Seks". "Since Mr Petkovic informed the public of events with which he is evidently unfamiliar, the only possible conclusion is that he did it in consultation with Mr Jurica or on his instruction. Both scenarios represent a serious blow to parliamentary practice in Croatia," the parties said in their statement. (Hina) vm