Sanader retains influence despite resignation

On Tuesday Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader announced his resignation from all government and party posts. The daily Dnevnik speculates on whether he was honest about the reasons for his stepping down: "Numerous affairs at state institutions that cost the state budget a lot of money, political and economic crimes as well as a disproportionate growth in the number of criminal offenders are just part of his bad legacy. Nor is [Sanader's] party as strong as he claims, even though it was Sanader who after the death of Franjo Tuđman [the first president after Croatia declared independence and leader of the conservative HDZ party] woke the party from the dead and breathed new life into it. … Moreover it's not true that he is retiring from politics to work in peace somewhere in the vineyards of Dalmatia. He thought up the position of honorary chairman of the HDZ and put new faces at the head of the party and in ministerial posts in the last minute and thus secured continued influence over the party and the government."

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