Ignoring Charges of Dictatorship, Croatian President
Vetos Third Nominee for Mayor of Zagreb
(ZAGREB, March 21—Reuters) Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, ignoring accusations of dictatorship, vetoed a third opposition nominee for Mayor of Zagreb on Thursday despite a rival coalition's new majority in the regional assembly. The strongman nationalist leader's own choice for mayor of the capital of one million people took office 10 days ago despite a no-confidence vote by the loose opposition bloc. New communal elections are expected soon to resolve the power struggle legally. Tudjman's HDZ party has drafted legislation to alter voting rules in a manoeuvre to restore an HDZ majority in the capital district.
Diplomats describe the row as a test of Croatia's capacity to shed autocratic habits of government left over from decades of Yugoslav communism and become a real democracy now that ethnic war in the Balkans has ended. A quarter of Croatia's 4.7 million people and its most important industry are in Zagreb and all important political and economic decisions are made in the capital district. Tudjman, 73, an ex-communist general who has suppressed critical media, alleges that his political rivals are incompetents or subversives who would destabilise Croatia in the service of foreigners if given power.
He has blocked their candidates for the Zagreb mayoralty by invoking a constitutional clause allowing him to veto appointments on "national security" grounds. Leaders of the centre-left opposition reject Tudjman's accusations as ridiculous and insulting, accusing him in turn of ushering in a thinly-veiled dictatorship. Diplomats and domestic critics say the HDZ is loath to yield power in Zagreb to avoid losing its grip on Croatian economic policy and to mask corruption in privatising state property that has enriched a ruling party elite.
A loose center-left opposition coalition won a 30-20 seat edge in the Zagreb district council in nationwide elections last October which returned the HDZ to an absolute but reduced majority in the national parliament. In a surprise move, the opposition has urged the Council of Europe to admit Croatia as a member when it next meets in May, despite lingering doubts about its democratic credentials. "Such support would only help democratic forces and processes in Croatia," said opposition leader Zdravko Tomac. "We're fully aware of the gravity of the Zagreb crisis, but we believe rejection by the Council could only worsen this situation, which could be resolved only if Croatia accepts European standards and is integrated into the European legal system," he said in a letter to the Council.
Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic said the Council had raised the issue of the Zagreb mayoralty and insufficient press freedom as problems to resolve as part of membership. "We told them these would be resolved in accordance with our constitution and legislature, after consultations with the Council of Europe, which they acknowledged."
Opposition critics fear the West is prepared to tolerate Tudjman's authoritarianism because Croatia now plays a key role in the postwar balance of power in former Yugoslavia.
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