The Number of Counties Remains a Subject of Future Discussion Between MOST and the Patriotic Coalition

Negotiations between MOST and the Patriotic Coalition regarding reforms in public administration and local self-government at the HDZ headquarters lasted about two and a half hours on Thursday, and at the end of the meeting, both sides expressed satisfaction with the discussions, agreeing that “the number of counties remains open for further discussion.”

– We fully agreed on all issues related to local and public administration. First, we discussed the reform of public administration, the reduction of the number of ministries, how to make public administration as good and efficient as possible, and we agreed on this, as we have been saying for four years that this needs to be done, and we are glad that we have a serious interlocutor who also advocates for this, said HDZ negotiator Oleg Butković to reporters after the talks. 

– Regarding the reform of local self-government, we discussed those municipalities that are not self-sustainable, that we need to address the issue of those municipalities and how to proceed with them. We discussed how to transfer powers from counties, and we agreed on this, to cities and municipalities, as we believe that cities and municipalities need to be strengthened, and the question of the number of counties is not a fundamental issue but rather how to make those counties more efficient and stable, emphasized Butković.

Croatia can be one county, “but if it has no powers, if it is not efficient, then we do not need it as such,” concluded Butković.

Kovačić (MOST):  the number of counties remains open for further discussion

– The number of counties remains open for further discussion, said MOST negotiator Ivan Kovačić to reporters, which Butković also agreed with.

When asked whether HDZ president Tomislav Karamarko rejected the possibility of regionalization, Kovačić replied: – Well, we were not really in favor of that part of regionalization either. We were in favor of reducing the number of counties, for decentralizing powers, both from central government to regional and from regional to local, he emphasized.

He also stated that MOST is satisfied with the discussions with HDZ. When asked by reporters whether they are abandoning regionalization considering that MOST plans regions instead of counties, Kovačić said that MOST’s plan was made “as a basis for some fundamental discussions.”

– We cannot condition on all points of the plan. Therefore, some things have been left for discussion, just as the criteria for possible abolishment of municipalities: whether it will be two, three, or four thousand inhabitants, whether it will be the financial capabilities of individual municipalities. Therefore, it would be incorrect of us to agree on this in a two-hour meeting, emphasized Kovačić.

Butković: HDZ has been talking for a long time about abolishing municipalities that are not self-sustainable and of course we accept that

Oleg Butković also noted that there is an opportunity for citizens to express their opinions on the abolishment of certain municipalities and generally what citizens think about counties.

– This is not about a party but about Croatia, and there is no issue we will not discuss and which we will not accept so that we all start living better, implement reforms, and Croatia becomes a positive story, Butković emphasized.

The HDZ’s Patriotic Coalition finds it acceptable, he says, to reduce the number of employees in both regional and local self-government and in public administration.

– We have been talking about this for a long time. We were the first to start talking about municipalities that are not self-sustainable, and of course, we accept that mayors in smaller municipalities with up to three thousand inhabitants be volunteers. We fully agreed with what our interlocutor today requested, said Butković.

Kovačić: Local self-government must undergo reform

Kovačić also stated that MOST is not interested in how “someone will arrange their political cadres.”

– Both sides have said that they will take care of arranging their political cadres and coalition cadres, who unfortunately have been placed in certain public and state enterprises or in some local self-governments. Local self-government must undergo reform; they have agreed that smaller, financially unsustainable municipalities have volunteers as mayors, that there are no deputies, that members of their municipal councils do not receive compensation, and that compensation for members of supervisory boards and management boards of communal companies is reduced, so for now, both sides have agreed to these reforms, Kovačić said.

When asked if “one side is more ready for reforms,” Kovačić replied that both SDP and HDZ are ready for reforms. When asked by reporters how MOST will then decide which side to support, Kovačić replied: “Leave that to us. It will be difficult, but we will take responsibility.”