Left party formed in Croatia
Two hundred dissidents met in Zagreb to form the Croatian Independent Democrats (HND) in opposition to president Franjo Tudjman's ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) on April 30. In officially announcing the formation of the left of centre opposition party, two former senior members of the government attacked Tudjman's support for separatist Bosnian Croats, his "tyrannical" approach to governing and the government's poor human rights record.
Upper house speaker Josip Manolic was sacked by Tudjman in April for expressing his opposition to the carve-up of Bosnia. The other senior rebel is Stipe Mesic, the speaker of the House of Representatives. Both have been prime ministers since Croatia's democratic elections in 1990; both were founding members of the HDZ.
It is believed that the new party can muster enough votes in parliament to cause a crisis for the government and perhaps force an early election.
"We are the strongest Croatian opposition party", Manolic said, implying that the new party already has more than 13 seats in the parliament. The Social Liberals, with 13 seats, have been the largest opposition force until now.
Manolic and Mesic said all democratically minded HDZ members were welcome to join them and called for cooperation with "all democratic parties".
Manolic told reporters that several politicians had been pressured by Tudjman and the HDZ-dominated state media since defecting from the ruling party.
On May 2 right-wing politicians from the Croatian Party of [Historic] Rights (HSP) were attacked with hammers in the Hercegovinian town of Siroki Brijeg. The HDZ has long regarded the HSP as a threat from the right and has hounded its leaders.