Croatia's Premier Sanader loses no sleep after quitting (News Feature)

By Boris Raseta Jul 2, 2009, 10:20 GMT

Zagreb - 'I slept well, how about you,' Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader asked reporters Thursday, a day after he dropped a bomb on his nation by announcing that he was resigning and then refusing to explain why.

Newspapers offered a host of theories on the 56-year-old's unexpected withdrawal from government, with two years to go until the next elections.

Sanader made the announcement at a hastily assembled press conference on Wednesday. His departure caught most by surprise. It comes as cash strapped and debt-ridden Croatia heads for hard times.

'I decided that I have done my share. It is time for others,' Sanader said. 'Croatia is now the leader in this part of Europe, with all conditions for development and growth.'

He insisted he was in good health and ruled out plans for a role in European politics or entering Croatia's presidential race next year.

'If he isn't ill and has no really good reason, then he's either a coward, or he has some trump card up his sleeve,' the 24Casa daily said.

Among the 'good reasons' in the media arsenal ranged from the issue of his daughter's health, the possibility of a no-confidence vote orchestrated by hardline conservatives in his Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) to talks on accession to the European Union that have stalled.

Media reports also suggested there was a possibility that some or another scandal was about to erupt.

Sanader's political foes from both the opposition and his own party have described his resignation as a sly and cowardly manoeuvre as the economy looks set to collapse.

He will step back as the accelerating recession, unsustainable spending and huge foreign debt spark an economic meltdown, predicted for the coming autumn, then return as a savior, the theory goes.

'Economists: We're in the pits,' said the headline in the Jutarnji List daily.

'The economic crisis is culminating, we're late with necessary measures and now there's nobody to implement them quickly enough, nor have we anybody to talk to about them,' Jutarnji quoted the head of the employers union Damir Kustak as saying.

The newspaper even interviewed a body-language expert who said Sanader did not come across during Wednesday's press conference as someone really planning to step back.

Jutarnji also pointed out that the far-right wing in the HDZ - which Sanader sidelined when he took over following the nationalist president Franjo Tudjman's death in 2000 - was getting ready to strike at the party congress on Saturday.

In any case, the timing for political games is bad for Croatia, which owes 55 billion dollars, or 92 per cent of its gross domestic product while facing a severe economic downturn.

'In this situation, Croatia did not need a government crisis,' President Stjepan Mesic said.

Mesic did not immediately designate deputy premier Jadranka Kosor, Sanader's chosen successor.

With a 30-day deadline for the new cabinet now ticking away, Mesic is to first discuss Kosor with parliamentary factions and verify whether she has enough support.