Regionalna autonomija Istre na prvom mjestu

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Article from the Vecernji List, 8th April. The concern for me is that such stupidity can even be given print space in the media and even worse that people in Istra actually would vote for this garbage - as if regional autonomy would achieve anything, especially considering Croatia already is over-governed with three levels of government (national, county, and local-municpal) for a small country, population wise and geographically I would think that if anything government and public service functions should be consolidated into either national government OR enlarged local-council governments. Counties are a waste of tax payers money and impeed investment and functioning of the state. Jakovcic and the IDS should be sent to Africa where they can practice incompetence and stupidity with the Zimbabwians of Mugabe.


Za predsjednika s novim četverogodišnjim mandatom na izbornom saboru IDS-a održanom u Novigradu ponovno je izabran sa 154 glasa (od 183 valjana listića) Ivan Jakovčić. Za potpredsjednike stranke glasove fiducijara dobili su Valter Drandić, Damir Kajin, Lorella Limoncin-Toth, Nevia Poropat i Giani Sponza.
http://www.vecernji-list.hr/system/galleries/pics/060408/ist-1-txt.jpg
Pripreme za izbore
Želim i dalje voditi IDS. Među primarnim zadacima bit će ostvarenje regionalne autonomije Istre, za koju bi, raspiše li se referendum, glasovalo više od 80 posto stanovnika Istre. Na sljedećim izborima IDS mora dobiti više od 50 posto glasova te "vratiti" četiri saborska mandata. S neskrivenim nadama očekujemo i jedan mandat u parlamentu EU nakon što Hrvatska uđe u Europsku uniju rekao je novi-stari predsjednik stranke Jakovčić u predstavljanju svog programa na izbornom saboru.

Jakovčić, jedini kandidat za predsjednika na izbornom saboru, među dijelovima programa stranke često ističe gradnju nove bolnice u Puli, otvaranje sveučilišta, ulaganja u gospodarstvo i smanjenje nezaposlenosti. Prepoznatljivost Istre kao regije je i prepoznatljivost IDS-a, koji je, rekao je Jakovčić, Istru pretvorio u značajan politički regionalni subjekt Europe.

Očekivanja od SDP-a
Jakovčić je ustvrdio da je IDS poželjan politički partner, naglasivši da "puno i najviše očekujemo od SDP-a, s kojim imamo stabilne koalicijske i partnerske odnose".

[Zrinski]

Mark my words nothing will be out of it....besides I think our journalists are once again publishing yellow crap with twisting of ones words.

Croatia already is over-governed as you say...we have more than 500 muncipalities(opcine) which is far too much and 22 counties(zupanije plus Zagreb). By Croatian constitution counties(zupanije) should be actually self-governed mini autonomies but due to extreme centralization at this moment it's not the case. So decentralization and full implementation of the constitution would do the trick and Jakovcic is most likely talking about this.

As for Jakovcic personally there will most likely be investigation against him because of malversations during acquisition of certain properies in Istria.

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Croatia already is over-governed as you say...we have more than 500 muncipalities(opcine) which is far too much and 22 counties(zupanije plus Zagreb). By Croatian constitution counties(zupanije) should be actually self-governed mini autonomies but due to extreme centralization at this moment it's not the case. So decentralization and full implementation of the constitution would do the trick and Jakovcic is most likely talking about this.


Call me a conservative, call me a 'stick-in-the-mud', but I think decentralisation would only cause problems. From what I know (correct me if I am wrong) taxes in Croatia are not only implemented by the national government in Zagreb, but also the županije (counties) have their own seperate taxes as well. For me this is too complex an environment both for investment purposes and to live. Cutting this type of complexity I think would do Croatia far more good in saving money and attracting investment without the need to join the EU.

[Zrinski]

Actually as it is now taxing is also highly centralized. First all the money goes to the capital and then the goverment redistributes it again. This is highly unfair and trust me Croatia if it wants to proposer needs to undergo radical decentralization. If Croatia was decentralized we could even lower the taxes.

[Slavic Enforcer]

I am also for decentralization.

[Bartholomew Roberts]

So the taxes that are collected in the name of the župnaije - what is done with that? Do those taxes get sent to Zagreb or are the županije using that for their own means? I thought under the constitution they use that money and is seperate from national taxes?

[Bartholomew Roberts]

I am also for decentralization.

I thought you were a communist?

decentralisation only is effective in large countries like the US, Canada etc where such a policy can open up jobs in remote areas and stimulate regional economies.

[Zrinski]

So the taxes that are collected in the name of the župnaije - what is done with that? Do those taxes get sent to Zagreb or are the županije using that for their own means? I thought under the constitution they use that money and is seperate from national taxes?

All tax collected goes to Zagreb and is then redistributed back to zupanije. The ratio of taxes is about 90-10 % in favour to state vs. zupanije.

Constitution is not actually immplemented as it is now....Constitution speaks of decentralization but the state is highly centralized.

[Bartholomew Roberts]

All tax collected goes to Zagreb and is then redistributed back to zupanije. The ratio of taxes is about 90-10 % in favour to state vs. zupanije.

Constitution is not actually immplemented as it is now....Constitution speaks of decentralization but the state is highly centralized.


If županije are collecting taxes for the national government what of standardisation issues in terms of implementation, compliance, and prosecution of taxation law amongst the various županije? And how numerical would the policing of, and compliance of such laws be in terms of man power required to do this at the county level - uneccessary buearacracy - people in jobs for the sake of jobs which have no net benefit to anyone except themselves.

There should only be one tax system in Croatia and that should be policed, implemented and regulated by the national government. That way taxes can be collected in the same way from everyone in the state in a fairly straight forward way. As such the counties should be abolished, and health care, education should be fully in the hands of Zagreb. Local councils should be amalgamated into populations of at least 100,000 and should be responsible for local roads, building permits (which ought comply with a national standard), and provision of local infrastructure and allied-health services. They can raise their own income by the concept of household rates - something which I 've noticed doesn't exist in Croatia and something which allows relatively well-off retired German guest worker types on Croatia's coast to recieve great pension income without even contributing to their local garbage collection service.

So I guess Jakovcic is not a big fan of mine :rofl:

[Slavic Enforcer]

I thought you were a communist?


In my opinion a mix of Capitalism and Socialism is the best solution for Croatia.
I support a high degree of regional self-government.