Croatian Opposition Chief Rejects TV Debate With PM

Tomislav Karamarko, head of the main opposition party, the centre-right Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, has turned down the offer of a TV debate with his main opponent, Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic.

In a statement on Tuesday, the HDZ said that Karamarko would not be responding to a call to debate with Milanovic, also head of the governing Social Democratic Party, SDP.

"We say to Zoran Milanovic that he should be facing the unemployed, the blocked [those with blocked assets]... the disempowered and all those life is made unbearable by his government," the press release said.

The statement said Milanovic was trying to use media spin in a TV debate and that the HDZ would defeat him in the regular way, at the next parliamentary elections.

"When the time comes, political opponents will have the chance to face each other in a public debate as an official part of the campaign, as required by the rules of the political competition," the HDZ statement reads, adding that Milanovic should reveal the exact date of the elections.

The idea for a debate between the two on the popular TV show "On Sunday at Two", on Croatian Radio-Television, HRT, was released on Tuesday by the host of the show, Aleksandar Stankovic.

"It crossed my mind to send an invitation to Milanovic and Karamarko, considering that the first has not been on my show since he became Prime Minister and the other one never at all. I thought maybe they would agree to come together," Stankovic stated on Tuesday.

"On Sunday at Two" is one of the most popular political TV shows in Croatia, having run for more than 15 years with guests from politics, sport, music and show business.

The SDP signed up to the debate in an earlier statement on Tuesday,...