CRO OPPOSITION ALLIANCE HOLDS PRESS CONFERENCE

ZAGREB, Sept 22 (Hina) - Croatian Opposition Alliance leaders on Sunday held a press conference in Zagreb on "The Zagreb Crisis - New Political Strategy of the Opposition Alliance" and issued a statement pointing out that they "do not agree indefinitely to the prolongation of the Zagreb political crisis in which the Zagreb and County Assemblies are by all means prevented from electing the mayor and the administration". All lawful means for a democratic denouement of the crisis and the respect for the citizens' will expressed in election results had been used, the Opposition Alliance estimated. "We demand of the President, the government and the parliament to intervene in accordance with their authority. Of HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) as the ruling party, we demand that it corrects its behaviour, which makes the denouement of the crisis impossible, or that it accepts the holding of new elections in a short time", the statement said. If within ten days they did not receive a satisfactory answer, councilors of the Zagreb City Assembly and the Zagreb County Assembly would freeze their activities, thus refusing to take part in the further prolongation of the crisis. Party representatives who signed the statement would propose to the parliament to issue a document which would terminate the Zagreb political crisis, the statement said, adding that if HDZ made that impossible, the Opposition Alliance "will know how to answer that in the right way". "We shall do everything to show citizens that we are true to their choice and that we respect their will", concluded the statement signed by presidents Vlado Gotovac of the Croatian Social Liberal Party, Zlatko Tomcic of the Croatian Peasant Party, Ivica Racan of the Social-Democratic Party, Radimir Cacic of the Croatian Popular Party, Stipe Mesic of the Party of Croatian Independent Democrats and Silvije Degen of the Action of Croatian Social- Democrats. (hina) ha 221430 MET sep 96