HNS` Just Society and Four Reform Projects

Programme of HNS president Vesna Pusic and Radimir Cacic promises powerful growth and development of Croatia.

We present you the main guidelines of Croatian People`s Party (HNS), taken from their official web site.

HNS` Fourfoil – reform project for new Croatia

Organisation of democratic institutions in the past 15 years has been accompanied by a powerful role of the state and politics, unjust and disruptive privatisation, mass impovernment of the citizens and the disappearance of the middle class as a base of a stable and free society. In this period, HNS – liberal democrats, were a step ahead in advocating high standards when it came to the protection of human rights and the values of liberal democracy.

Positions on the necessity of civil state developing with all citizens being politically equal, regardless of their ethnic background, European orientation and institutional organisation, as well as co-operation with the neighbours, region countries and strategies of exiting war and post-war traumas, based on recognising, individualising and processing responsibility and guilt for crimes committed during the war, have all become general standards in Croatian politics, accepted by all relevant political parties.

Today, when we face new challenges and possibilities, HNS is again opening new spaces and offering new solutions through four reform projects:

JUST SOCIETY

NEW SOVEREIGNTY

DECENTRALISATION

RAPID ECONOMIC GROWTH

Common denominator for HNS` developing political goals is CROATIA OF A POWERFUL AND STABLE MIDDLE CLASS.

Powerful middle class means a stable and advanced country, dynamic economy, high level and freedom of scientific and cultural creativity, as well as the awareness of inalienable dignity and freedom of citizens.

Just society

HNS – liberal democrats will strongly insist in the upcoming period on the forgotten or lost distinction of a just society with equal chances, determining minimum standards that Croatia must ensure in order to organise a just society for all its citizens.

A just society means good and articulate laws, new public administration directed at citizens and their private and business needs, the disappearance of corruption, personal and business certainty and equality before the law.

Special attention will be directed at:

The right to work and income sufficient for a decent living, availability of health care for all citizens, availability of all levels of educations (free transport for pupils, students` loans=, just pensions which are sufficient for a decent living (the same pension conditions – the same amount of pension), social protection with a guaranteed minimum of life necessities, social tickets and articulate social rights and incomes, rights of the disabled according to their level of disability and not the way it should be treated, measures against corruption, especially in judiciary and public administration, as well as equal development of Croatia.

New Croatian sovereignty

By Croatia approaching full European Union and NATO membership, a new approach has been opened when it comes to sovereignty and the possibilities and resources of independent administration. Therefore, determining strategic systems and special policies within them is one of the fundamental issues Croatia will realise management based on national interests when it comes to redefining its own sovereignty.

The most important ones are: managing territory (agricultural land, coast and islands), national parks, nature parks and protected landscapes, cultural-historic cores of settlements), environmental protection, self-efficiency when it comes to producing foods, maintaining sovereignty over fundamental natural resources (exports of drinking water, mine wealth, forests), managing money flows (monetary sovereignty, possibility of leverage on the banking market), managing energy sources (distribution of electric energy, oil pipelines and gas pipelines, renewable energy sources)and managing large infrastructure systems (roads, telecommunications, systems of links).

Decentralisation of authorisations, resources and education

From a decentralised country where around 50 percent of budget resources was locally collected and spent at the beginning of 90`s (where local authorities elected chiefs of police) the Republic of Croatia has turned into a highly centralised country where more than 90 percent of resources poured down and was spent (in conformity with such policy in ministries, primary school headmasters were appointed, as well as headmasters of other educational, health and cultural institutions).

HNS has been advocating decentralisation of authorisations, resources and education for a long time, as well as the subsidiarity, according to which spheres are set on that level where they can be best realised.

HNS places special attention to:

Decentralisation of authorities and resources in education, health, social care, culture, spatial planning, traffic and utility services infrastructure where the strength of local and regional self-administration would double at least in the first step; equal regional development as an expression of geographical, economic, traffic, historic and cultural special features of Croatian regions and a generator of increasing total strength of the country; more just distribution of tax money with total income from income tax going to regional and local self-administration and all income from profit tax to central state administration; creating regional centres of excellence and regional development agencies as preconditions for decentralisation of education and taking over authorisations on local levels; change of electoral law that will enable direct election of local and regional leadership and more powerful participation of citizens in administration.

Rapid economic growth

It will not be possible to realise any of the previously mentioned goals without a rapid economic growth in the minimum amount of 6 percent per year and the state taking over where such growth cannot be realised without it.

The state much create conditions for increased productivity, competition and efficiency of the economy, improvement of educational and expert quality of population able for work and a 50 percent increase of citizens with university degrees, with special emphasis on improving the quality of managers and the development of managerial education.

The development of infrastructure is essential as a basic precondition of the economic development, as well as the informatisation and restructuring of state administration.

Key assignment for the state is to ensure conditions for free and stable entrepreneurial activities with the following measures:

Defining and stimulating those types of entrepreneurialship and economic activities that have greatest chances of succeeding in every region as well as in microregions, clear and stimulating tax system, developing models of public-private partnership on a state and local level and mobilising capital which is not included in the budget (real estate market, pre-accession funds), stimulating export (especially of small land medium companied on international markets), solving the status and making agricultural lands function, as well as real estate that is not being used due to ownership relations not being solved, unique and envisioned land policy and a model of protection ad development of the coast zone, measures of monetary policy in the function of economic growth, clear and efficient legal and jurisdictional system, efficient public administration, clear rules and supervision of market tenders; creating an economic environment for the increase of interest of potential foreign direct investors for Greenfield and Brownfield investments.