ZAGREB, June 24, 2020 – Leader of the Social Democratic Party Davor Bernardic, who is at the helm of the Restart coalition, said on Wednesday that the coalition’s task was to further decentralise Croatia and enable Istria, known for its tolerance and inclusiveness, to develop even faster.
Only investments can change the economic structure
He added that for that reason one of the first measures the Restart coalition would put in place would be for a zero tax rate on wages of up to HRK 5,000 so that workers could immediately receive HRK 300 more in their monthly wages.
The SDP-led government would also immediately reduce VAT in hospitality and tourism.
He added that one of the fundamental problems over the past four years was that the government had introduced taxation on investments or reinvested profit which, he said, the Restart coalition would once again abolish because it wanted to attract investments to Croatia “because only investments can change our economy’s structure.”
National coronavirus crisis management team is a political body
Responding to reporters’ questions, Bernardic said that the national coronavirus crisis management team’s likely decision to change the border regime with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Montenegro was belated as shown by “the escalation of the corona crisis.”
“It’s obvious that the crisis management team is in a fact a ‘political team’ because its key leaders are on HDZ’s election slates. That is not good given that because of the election, they do not have time to deal with the coronavirus which is why it has spread.
“Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic should go into self-isolation. However, it is obvious that one set of rules applies to citizens and another to the prime minister and HDZ members. That is an injustice that citizens feel,” said Bernardic.
