SANADER IN AUSTRIA In late November Ivo Sanader spoke at a session of a committee of Austrian parliament; at several dramatic meetings last week the former Prime Minister appealed to his fellow party members to oppose demands for the ouster of Minister Kalmeta "The HDZ has already lost the posts of justice minister and interior minister, and with the departure of Polancec we also lost the economy ministry. Now there are calls to have Kalmeta step down, but if we lose him, will it even be a HDZ government?" said former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader at several dramatic meetings in Zagreb last week, appealing to his fellow party members that they oppose calls to sack Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Bozidar Kalmeta. Sanader allegedly also met with Kalmeta, expressing his firm support and counselling him to not cave under public and media pressure and to by no means tender his resignation.

This information was confirmed for Nacional by a source in the HDZ top leadership, and Nacional's source feels that this is without a doubt yet another effort on the part of Sanader to rally his former colleagues to his side and by doing so to restore a measure of the political influence within the party he has almost entirely lost over the past few months. For over a month Sanader practically did not show his face in the party headquarters, or communicated with anyone, and now he suddenly reappears. He has clearly deemed that this is a favourable moment at which to rally to his side all those unhappy with Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor.

He tried to do the same thing when Damir Polancec faced dismissal, but Polancec did not then have any significant number of political allies or friends in the party. With Kalmeta the situation is completely different. He is a vice president of the party, popular in his electoral riding and has indebted many over the years. He will certainly not tender his resignation of his own volition, as Polancec did, which means the Prime Minister will have to either support him or sack him. If she does decide to sack him, the number of unhappy people in the party will grow significantly, and it is precisely these people that Sanader probably sees as the foundation of his political reactivation." The issue of sacking Bozidar Kalmeta could be the trigger for major internal party strife in the HDZ, especially considering that the Minister has begun ever more openly to defy the Prime Minister. Kalmeta twice last week stated that the war on corruption was not launched by Kosor, but rather by Ivo Sanader, first in an interview for Nova TV, and then in an interview for the Globus weekly, and Kosor aides feel that he did so at the behest of Sanader.

They accuse the former Prime Minister and his colleagues of feeding reporters information aimed at destabilising Prime Minister Kosor's authority. The Jutarnji list daily reported that some local HDZ branches intend to organise massive support rallies for Kalmeta, and ran an article in which it is implied that an investigation will soon be launched into the affairs of Minister of Environmental Protection, Physical Planning and Construction Marina Matulovic Dropulic. The very next day the same paper ran an article analysing the relationships between the Prime Minister and the various members of the cabinet in which Marina Matulovic Dropulic was described as one of the closest associates to Jadranka Kosor, who exceptionally respects and values the Prime Minister. Nacional's source feels that this is a media war of sorts between two conflicting factions within the ruling party. Sanader's people feed information to the press on the membership's support for Kalmeta and on new investigations into the affairs of members of the cabinet, aiming to rally as many members as they can against Jadranka Kosor.

A part of the membership is already unhappy about the way the Prime Minister is running the party, feeling that she allows the media to shape her policies. If an investigation against yet another prominent member of the party, such as Marina Matulovic Dropulic, were now to be launched, there is no doubt that those members of the HDZ leadership that currently support the Prime Minister, like Ivan Suker and Vladimir Seks, would oppose it. The Prime Minister would probably lose the support of the HDZ presidency, and then would lose power. She is aware of this and is making an effort to counter the information coming out of the Sanader camp in the press." It could be concluded from this that Sanader could once again try to gain the upper hand in the HDZ presidency. As the honorary president of the party his is still formally a member of the body and has the right to participate at its meetings.

"The HDZ has already lost the posts of justice minister and interior minister, and with the departure of Polancec we also lost the economy ministry. Now there are calls to have Kalmeta step down, but if we lose him, will it even be a HDZ government?" said former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader at several dramatic meetings in Zagreb last week, appealing to his fellow party members that they oppose calls to sack Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Bozidar Kalmeta. Sanader allegedly also met with Kalmeta, expressing his firm support and counselling him to not cave under public and media pressure and to by no means tender his resignation.

This information was confirmed for Nacional by a source in the HDZ top leadership, and Nacional's source feels that this is without a doubt yet another effort on the part of Sanader to rally his former colleagues to his side and by doing so to restore a measure of the political influence within the party he has almost entirely lost over the past few months. For over a month Sanader practically did not show his face in the party headquarters, or communicated with anyone, and now he suddenly reappears. He has clearly deemed that this is a favourable moment at which to rally to his side all those unhappy with Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor.

He tried to do the same thing when Damir Polancec faced dismissal, but Polancec did not then have any significant number of political allies or friends in the party. With Kalmeta the situation is completely different. He is a vice president of the party, popular in his electoral riding and has indebted many over the years. He will certainly not tender his resignation of his own volition, as Polancec did, which means the Prime Minister will have to either support him or sack him. If she does decide to sack him, the number of unhappy people in the party will grow significantly, and it is precisely these people that Sanader probably sees as the foundation of his political reactivation." The issue of sacking Bozidar Kalmeta could be the trigger for major internal party strife in the HDZ, especially considering that the Minister has begun ever more openly to defy the Prime Minister. Kalmeta twice last week stated that the war on corruption was not launched by Kosor, but rather by Ivo Sanader, first in an interview for Nova TV, and then in an interview for the Globus weekly, and Kosor aides feel that he did so at the behest of Sanader.

They accuse the former Prime Minister and his colleagues of feeding reporters information aimed at destabilising Prime Minister Kosor's authority. The Jutarnji list daily reported that some local HDZ branches intend to organise massive support rallies for Kalmeta, and ran an article in which it is implied that an investigation will soon be launched into the affairs of Minister of Environmental Protection, Physical Planning and Construction Marina Matulovic Dropulic. The very next day the same paper ran an article analysing the relationships between the Prime Minister and the various members of the cabinet in which Marina Matulovic Dropulic was described as one of the closest associates to Jadranka Kosor, who exceptionally respects and values the Prime Minister. Nacional's source feels that this is a media war of sorts between two conflicting factions within the ruling party. Sanader's people feed information to the press on the membership's support for Kalmeta and on new investigations into the affairs of members of the cabinet, aiming to rally as many members as they can against Jadranka Kosor.

PRIME MINISTER UNDER PRESSURE Jadranka Kosor is in an unenviable situation because Ivo Sanader is trying to use Bozidar Kalmeta's popularity in the membership to turn the members of the HDZ presidency against her A part of the membership is already unhappy about the way the Prime Minister is running the party, feeling that she allows the media to shape her policies. If an investigation against yet another prominent member of the party, such as Marina Matulovic Dropulic, were now to be launched, there is no doubt that those members of the HDZ leadership that currently support the Prime Minister, like Ivan Suker and Vladimir Seks, would oppose it. The Prime Minister would probably lose the support of the HDZ presidency, and then would lose power. She is aware of this and is making an effort to counter the information coming out of the Sanader camp in the press." It could be concluded from this that Sanader could once again try to gain the upper hand in the HDZ presidency. As the honorary president of the party his is still formally a member of the body and has the right to participate at its meetings.