Tudjman's Epistle

According to the statement from the session of the Supreme State Council (SSC), Tudjman's advisory body, from last week, one section of the Croatian armed forces was preparing a conspiracy against the constitutional regime, as well as the coup within the armed forces. The following day the public was surprised to learn that Mile Dedakovic had been taken down for an interrogation on the order of the Ministry of Defence. The same day Dobroslav Paraga, the President of the Croatian Rights Party and his deputy Milan Vukovic were apprehended.

The opposition parties saw this latest move of the SSC to be the overstepping of their authority, while the radical critics at the SSC see it only as "a pretext for the already assumed authority" on the part of the President of the Republic "whose constitutional authority is already overwhelming".

Tudjman was also subjected to harsh words and the request for the abolishing of the SSC . He blames this "paramilitary organ" for entrusting him with such authority. The President is being criticized from the left and from the right. The government is growing more inferior since its president does not keep it informed about the specific political steps. Certain government MPs are said to have learned of his journey to Geneva and the negotiations from the daily press.

How come the opposition leaders are so sensitive about the president's behaviour, when they themselves applaud him on his attitude towards the opposition? The possible reasons concern the handling of the defeat of Vukovar. Is it really possible that Vukovar had fallen owing to the counter-espionage service and Paraga's irregulars? Judging by the atmosphere in Croatia, very few are inclined to believe this.

What about the indictment against the Croatian

Parliament , the Government and the president of the Republic? Why is it presumed that someone from the counter-espionage had written it when any citizen of Vukovar can tell you the same? When asked "where are you from", a young woman, a refugee from Slavonia, replied embittered in front of the TV cameras: "You, the citizens of Zagreb, don't even know where it is".

Has Dedakovic been chosen to bear the cost of the increasingly loud accusations of the intentional sacrificing of Vukovar? Many believe that Vukovar could have been defended with the help and support of Zagreb. It had been sacrificed in order that the independence of Croatia be internationally recognized. This is not a new idea, it was put forward by the Croatian fighters from Vukovar immediately before the blockade had begun.

The Supreme State Council has announced the apprehension of Paraga, and even President Tudjman himself accused the conspirators on TV, which was taken to be the unprecedented scandal.

Paraga himself claims that accusing him of being an ustasha is cynical, since many more members of the ruling party wear letter U ( for "ustashe" ) on their uniforms than the members of his party. The political profile of this party is very clear. It does not even hide it. Its illegal activities against the Serbian population ended in crime.

Tudjman has, owing to the increasing pressure from the West, entered a political duel in order to improve his own international reputation. By doing so he had admitted to what is here being kept quiet about-the suspicion of the West concerning Tudjman's

ability to introduce democracy in Croatia. The question, however, is whether the nervous political steps of President Tudjman would present the right arguments to convince the West that he is sincere about democracy, or will his present methods bring him even closer to his fierce enemy Milosevic, whose regime seem to personify the bolshevik bigotry. The initial results of the latest Tudjman's steps are the homogenization of the political opposition on his right and the rising public discontent concerning the results of Tudjman's rule.