In the late 1980s, he led the Croatian branch of the communist party, and in 1989 became the first member of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Croatia to make a public statement congratulating Catholics on Christmas.
Koncem osamdesetih vodio je hrvatski ogranak komunističke stranke, a 1989. postao je prvi član Centralnog komiteta Saveza komunista Hrvatske koji je javno čestitao Božić katolicima.