ZAGREB, May 27, 2019 – The union-led referendum initiative “67 is too much”, which has managed to collect over 600,000 signatures for a referendum petition on restoring the statutory pension age of 65, said on Monday that it had spent HRK 867,000 on its campaign and received HRK 1.3 million in donations.
Under the law, such initiatives can spend a maximum amount of 8 million kuna, however, unionists and activists have managed to spend much less, according to a report published on the website of the State Electoral Commission (DIP), which is in charge of supervising the financing of referendum initiatives, under the new law on the funding of political activities.
Thus, “67 is too much” is the first initiative to be regulated by the new legislation.
The report also gives a breakdown of donors, and the lion’s share of donations came from the three trade union federations that had organised the initiative.
The maximum individual donation of 200,000 kuna was paid by the Zagreb-based Maxima company. The list of donors includes only one physical person, who made a donation of 200 kuna.
The unions also provide a breakdown of expenses and the largest portion, 199,500 kuna, went on various advertisement and promotional services.
On 12 May, the initiative “67 is too much” announced that they had gathered over 600,000 signatures for a referendum to prevent the statutory retirement age from being raised from 65 to 67.
Under the law, organisers of a referendum are required to gather the signatures of at least 373,568 voters, or 10 percent of the electorate, before formally filing a referendum petition.
More news about referendum initiatives can be found in the Politics section.
