Mirela Holy and ORaH getting ready for the election campaign in Croatia.
ORaH’s campaign will be optimistic, unpretentious and modest, focused on specific proposals to change the direction of Croatia, and directed to Croatian citizens “who are disgusted by current politics”, announced ORaH on Sunday in Zagreb at the presentation of the party campaign for the upcoming parliamentary elections, reports Index.hr on August 16, 2015.
The president of the party Mirela Holy said that the campaign will present specific programs and measures “which will benefit the citizens of Croatia. ORaH is not interested in empty promises, but in measures and deadlines which can make a positive change. What is important for us is that Croatia changes its direction”, said Holy at a press conference at the party headquarters.
In shaping its policies, ORaH has primarily turned to the Scandinavian countries as examples, while its voters are “people who are disgusted with politics”, said Holy. “These are people who are disgusted with politics because in the past ten years, during which we had a chance to experience ‘normal’ functioning of the state, we see that the governments really do not differ much one from the other, regardless of whether it is this or that large party. The policies implemented are exactly the same, and citizens feel a very high degree of distrust towards political parties and politicians”, she explained. “We believe that Croatia can be different and better. All the countries we look upon have done that, so there is no reason why Croatia could not do the same.”
The summary of the electoral manifesto contains 18 specific measures, from those relating to financial reform to the reform of public administration, territorial organization of the country, the judiciary system and more. “We are committed to the so-called qualitative public administration reform, which includes the introduction of checklists for permit issuance, and the introduction of criteria for evaluation of work of civil servants on the basis of clearly defined tasks and procedures that each civil servant has to achieve”, said Holy. As an example, she noted the model of reform that has been successfully implemented by Denmark.
Another specific measure is the regionalization of Croatia. Instead of 20 counties plus Zagreb there would be just four regions plus Zagreb. She also proposes financial decentralization and related judicial reforms and tax reforms aimed at relieving the burden of taxation.
One of the most important goals is raising the minimum wage to the level of monthly cost of living for a family of four, which is 7,000 kuna. Therefore, the minimum wage in Croatia should amount to 3,500 kuna, based on a family with two employed members.
The party also proposes a reform of the pension system which would include the abolition of the second pension pillar (obligatory private accounts), “because we believe that in this way we can balance the pension system”.
Campaign manager Alen Baščevan said that ORaH has significantly less financial resources than the “two coalition sausages which are fighting in the political arena against us. But, that does not mean we will not be original. This will be one of the most original campaigns in the last few years.”
While choosing candidates for its electoral lists, ORaH will respect the principle of parity democracy, which means that all lists will have an equal number of candidates of both genders, because “we cannot have true democracy if there is discrimination on any grounds”, stressed Holy. “Croatia needs to restore optimism and to agree what the strategic interests of our country are”, said the president of ORaH.
