I Will Not Dismiss Ministers Polancec and Kirin

Sanader said he is not considering dismissing government vice president Damir Polancec for the KIM company privatisation.

Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader announced today in Split he will meet with Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa the next week and that he will notify the public on the matter.

-So far, we have exchanged views on familiar non-solved issues between Croatia and Slovenia and I expect a new proposal which should follow in the next few days after which I will invite party heads for consultationsž before our response to the Slovenian proposal- said the prime minister.

Opposition meeting is a good thing

Commenting the meeting of Social Democratic Party (SDP) head Zoran Milanovic and head of Slovenian Social Democrats Borut Pahor, he assessed that this was a good meeting and that representatives of the Croatian and Slovenian opposition meeting is a good thing, just as we have done during the time when we were the opposition”.

As far as Milanovic`s proposal for the International Court of Justice in Hague to mediate in the bordering dispute with the Slovenians goes, he said it was not a novelty, but an idea that exists as an alternative if two other proposals could not be agreed upon – Slovenian proposal for the OCSE to mediate and the Croatian proposal for the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg to solve it.

-If neither of the two propositions are accepted, then the logical step would be to turn to Hague- he said-.

Roles of the government and the Parliament are well-known

Commenting on Milanovic`s idea which states that the government should not prepare laws any more in the future, he said that roles of the government and the Parliament are well-known in parliamentary democracy and there are no reasons for Croatia to be a guinea pig for SDP`s experiment.

-I think that with good ideas lacking as well as concrete proposals to solve problems from unemployment to economy and strengthening export, they come up with all sorts of proposals which are not good for Croatia- he determined.

Tradition of elections in a four-year period should be maintained

He added that he has refused those who proposed early elections in the same manner because he considered it was not a good thing and that Croatia needs to maintain the tradition of holding elections every four years, and not for every new authority to change everything from the political system to the Constitution and state holidays etc.

-In my opinion, it is simply a lack of political ideas- he said.

Answering to reporters` questions, Sanader said he was not considering dismissing government vice president Damir Polancec amidst the KIM company privatisation (Karlovac Milk Industry) nor Interior Minister Ivica Kirin.

-There are no dismissals, not a chance- concluded Sanader.