"The statement that my end is near directly proves what I said yesterday - that Parliament Deputy Speaker Seks and Jadranka Kosor are influencing investigations and controlling criminal proceedings," Sanader told a news conference.

Sanader wonders how come that one of the five parliament deputy speakers can know that somebody's end is near if "he himself is not involved in it."

He said that at the moment Croatia was being held hostage by Seks and Kosor and their undemocratic acts.

Sanader accused the two officials of using undemocratic methods in political games, unheard-of in democracies.

He went on to say that in the letters he sent to European officials he was speaking about his struggle against undemocratic occurrences in his country.

That means to fight for Croatia, Sanader said in response to Seks's accusations that Sanader was "telling tales" about Croatia.

Commenting on Seks's claims that Sander had come to power through intrigues and deception, Sanader wondered why Seks and Kosor had followed him for ten years and praised him for having rebuilt the party (HDZ) from ashes after (the party convention on) 3 January 2000.

Sanader said that he did not know about any slush funds in the HDZ and that he did not fear any criminal prosecution.

He said that while he was at the HDZ helm, a strong hierarchy existed in the party, and that the party's secretary-general made decisions on everyday party operations.

Sanader said that he was writing a book about his political career and that he would publish it when he decided that the time was right.