Pusić said that everyone should answer for their political or any other decisions, and that a country's or a government's stability could not be used as a pretext for not dealing with situations requiring clarification.

She said that it would be better for former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and the entire country to clear up the situation, instead of destabilising the government.

According to some media reports, Sanader received commission from Hypo-Alpe-Adria Bank for agency services. Sanader has strongly dismissed the reports.

Asked about Pusić's campaign costs, HNS spokesman Boris Blazekovic said that two million kuna had been raised, the biggest donor being the HNS. He added that the party would submit a list of donors to the State Election Commission on Friday, specifying what the donations had been spent on.

Independent presidential candidate Damir Kajin said in Vukovar, Thursday, that state institutions had started working more freely following Sanader's departure.

Kajin said that Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor would be happiest if she did not have to change anything, but that she would have to make a radical turnaround in her policy if she wanted Croatia to overcome the current problems.

Kajin said the ongoing presidential race was marked by "big business trying to install its president", which he said would be worse than "having the country run by party people".

Asked to comment on media reports about Sanader's possible return to active politics, Kajin said he was inclined to think that what the media were saying about it was true and that he expected Sanader to return "as soon as [HDZ presidential candidate Andrija] Hebrang loses the presidential race".

Independent presidential candidate Vesna Škare Ožbolt, visiting Split yesterday, said that Sanader could return to the parliament and that this was "an internal matter of the HDZ".

"Sanader has the right to return as a member of parliament because his mandate cannot be transferred. He can take advantage of that possibility. However, it is up to the party to decide, considering the fact that scandals are being uncovered and that a lot of things indicate that instructions were given that are now giving rise to scandals," Škare Ožbolt said.

She also said that she would make public financial data about her campaign on December 23.