Kosor told the press Linic had clearly threatened the judiciary when, speaking about State Prosecutor Mladen Bajic to a weekly, he said, "We will see how he will close the ongoing cases and how everything will be proven in court."

"That's a direct, open threat against the state prosecutor, the State Prosecutor's Office, the Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime and a direct and open threat against the judiciary as a whole, including courts and judges," Kosor said, adding that the "markets case" was an ongoing case since March 2010.

"That's a direct threat, a direct message to the judiciary: Watch out! Don't touch our people! In that case, you may have a chance, otherwise none at all."

Kosor stressed the HDZ found this "alarming and worrying", as none of the leaders of the opposition coalition had reacted, not even those who she said swore by Europe and European standards nor those who had been "body and soul for the completion of the (accession) negotiations with the EU."

Kosor said this was a clear announcement that if the SDP and its coalition partners came to power, they would "suspend" everything that had been achieved and that trials would be held on their orders. She added that "never have more direct and more arrogant threats been made against independent judiciary in Croatia."

She wondered why the SDP and its partners had not voted for the conflict of interest law and "what and who are they afraid of." "They are afraid of showing their bank accounts and where the money came from," she said, adding that said law had been a requirement for closing the policy chapter regulating the judiciary and fundamental rights in the EU entry talks and that suspending it would lead to big problems.

Kosor said they gave the SDP some time to react to Linic's interview but, since no reaction came, "this confirms that Linic outlined the basic guidelines of the SDP's platform for the coming period and the model by which the would run Croatia if they came to power."

She said SDP leader Zoran Milanovic did not have the courage to state those arguments publicly, so he let Linic outline part of the platform which she said was "absolutely unacceptable and scary" to the HDZ.

It was very clearly said that the SDP, if it came to power, would sell the HEP power supply company, which could result in higher electricity prices, Kosor said, adding that the incumbent government had clearly stated that it would not sell the water and forestry management companies and that selling HEP now "would be tragic."

She also said that the SDP, when it was in power in 2000-03, had sold everything it could - shares of the HT telecommunications company for EUR 500 million, the Pliva drugs company, hotels, banks, etc.

Kosor also condemned Linic's announcement of the lay-off of 80 per cent of people in the state administration. "We have already seen that, because people were replaced overnight when their government was in office," she said, adding that they had replaced about 30 ambassadors "overnight".

She said the people in the state administration had been crucial for completing the EU entry talks, and recalled the SDP-led government's lay-offs in the police and "drastic" rescinding of rights, which she said had resulted in lawsuits by people employed in the state administration. She said the government had to pay HRK 1.5 billion in damages based on lawsuits filed by war veterans whose rights had been "drastically reduced."

Kosor said it was good that Milanovic had opened a discussion on ambassadors, clearly stating what the opposition coalition's plan would be if they won the forthcoming election.

She said there was no agreement at all in the coalition about investments. "It shows that they agree only about the division of positions, although there are disputes about that too."

She criticised the announcement of a property tax, saying it was "not a tax on tycoons" but would have to be paid by every pensioner for a "tiny flat" or a country house built over the past 40 years.

Kosor announced for September 17 an HDZ convention which she expected 10,000 party members to attend.