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.
Krajem osamdesetih on je vodio hrvatski ogranak komunističke stranke, a 1989. postao je prvi član Centralnog komiteta Saveza komunista Hrvatse koji je javno čestitao Božić katolicima.