The son of Croatia's late ultra-nationalist leader Franjo Tudjman has founded a rightwing association, describing it as an alternative to current center-left authorities which he accused of creating a national crisis, local press reported Tuesday.
Miroslav Tudjman slammed the government as incapable of solving the country's serious economic hardship and said it had created a "national crisis" as he presented the program of his Association for Croatia's Identity and Prosperity (HIP), the Vecernji List daily reported.
"The mission of this government is over," Tudjman said quoted by Vecernji List, adding the HIP would have an influence on the country's political scene since it would act to protect Croatia's "interest and future."
The HIP launch late Monday in a Zagreb Hotel attracted some 1,000 people, mainly supporters of the former ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and member of rightwing parties, Vecernji List said.
Among the HIP co-founders were Andrija Hebrang, former health minister and late Tudjman's ally, and international football player Zvonimir Boban.
Franjo Tudjman led Croatia with an iron hand from its independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991 until his death in December 1999.
His son Miroslav is the former head of Croatia's intelligence service (HIS).
During Tudjman's rule the country's economy was virtually devastated mainly through fraudulent privatization which his family exploited for their own enrichment, according to the independent press.
His nationalist and Euro-phobic policy resulted in Croatia's international isolation -- ZAGREB (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
