Many parties say they support territorial reorganization of local government units, but this is one of the first specific proposals.
Pametno Party presented today in Osijek a map which represents the new organization of local government units in Croatia, with five regions and 123 urban centres, instead of the current 556 towns and municipalities, 20 counties, and the City of Zagreb as a special unit, reports Poslovni.hr on August 25, 2016.
They have decided to demonstrate in detail what the reform of public administration and local self-government system would bring to various regions.
“Some of our regions, towns and municipalities still fear the reform of public administration and local government system, because they have not been informed what would that precisely mean and how much it would change Croatia – for the better. All parties are aware of the necessity of this reform, but a lot of them are intentionally scaring people, stating that they would lose their jobs and local autonomy. They are not mentioning that this reform can improve local government services, reduce costs and set up a foundation for economic growth. Parties only think about their own political interests and where to employ their members, while we look after the interests of citizens and that is the key difference between our and their policies”, said Ivica Puljak, the party secretary.
Pametno Party recently became the first party in Croatia to present a three-year projection of the budget, making it clear with specific examples how they would implement their manifesto.
“We have had enough of false promises, unrealistic figures about growth and employment, and about giveaways to particular groups of people. We have been hearing that for the last 26 years, from everybody who was in power during that period. It is about time that someone tells the truth and open people’s eyes. Pametno Party it doing just that, with a serious manifesto, the first budget projections ever in an election campaign in Croatia, and with serious people who will implement our ideas”, said Marijana Puljak, president of the Pametno Party.
They believe that the reduction in the number of local government units would save enough money to significantly improve the quality of life and services for the citizens.
