ZAGREB, April 29, 2020 – Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Davor Bernardić said on Wednesday that Croatia now needed “a full restart”, as the country simply must change itself.
“We are today aware that the things that mattered three months ago are no longer valid, we are aware of that the huge state administration is of no use for Croatia,” Bernardić said among other things, after he laid a wreath at the grave of the SDP leader Ivica Račan on the occasion of the 13th anniversary of Račan’s death.
Commenting on the current situation, Bernardić said that the coronavirus would go away, and the problems would remain the same.
In this context he called for “a full restart” of Croatia which had to change itself.
We cannot live off tourism and the consumption of imported products. Croatia must be fully digitised and increase local production and capacities, the SDP chief said.
He praised Račan for having been the most successful prime minister of Croatia underscoring that during the term of his government from 2000 to 2004, Croatia’s cumulative growth was almost 20%, with growth rates higher than, for instance, in Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia.
Bernardić said that during Račan’s premiership, state-of-the-art motorways were built in Croatia and wages and pensions increased by more than 50%.
Račan, who was born on 24 February 1944 in Ebersbach, Germany, died in Zagreb on 29 April 2007, having retired from politics due to a grave illness.
After Račan’s death, Zoran Milanović was elected as the SDP president in June that year beating his rivals Željka Antunović, Milan Bandić and Tonino Picula.
After losing the 2015 parliamentary election Milanović stepped down as the party leader and was succeeded by Bernardić.
More SDP news can be found in the Politics section.
