Bauk and Maras Present Measures for Liberation from Debt Slavery

SDP representatives Arsen Bauk and Gordan Maras on Thursday at a press conference in the Parliament once again presented measures that their party proposes to ease the position of those subjected to enforcement and blockages, that is, to liberate these people from debt slavery, unblock as many of the 325 thousand blocked accounts as possible, and stop the usury to which they are exposed.

Maras reported that they are preparing a set of five measures, including the proposal that debts of up to 10 thousand kuna for those blocked for up to one year be erased, which would be direct assistance for 115 thousand citizens. Also, according to the SDP proposal, the only property should not be enforced for a small debt, and they propose to raise that limit from 20 to 50 thousand kuna.

>>>Opposition for SDP Amendments to the Enforcement Law, Government Prepares New Law

He announced that they will also fight against the imposition of additional costs with a proposal that enforcement up to five thousand kuna be carried out by FINA without any costs. He says they will gather 30 parliamentary signatures to include amendments to the Consumer Bankruptcy Act in the parliamentary procedure so that the amount of additional costs is not multiple times higher than the principal debt, that is, they would stipulate that the principal and costs are repaid concurrently.

Supervision of Debt Collection Agencies

They propose to stop debt trading by stipulating an obligation that the creditor must first offer the debtor to buy back the debt at the amount that would be offered to the debt collection agency, so that if the debtor agrees, they would have the right of first refusal on the debt instead of the agency to which it would be sold. Maras emphasized that the market for such agencies needs to be structurally regulated under the supervision of HANFA, as citizens should not be exposed to pressure and stress in this way.

He concluded that HDZ’s concern for the blocked ended with the inclusion of the president of the Blocked Association on their electoral list.

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Bauk called on HDZ members to vote according to their conscience on the SDP’s proposed amendments to the Enforcement Law, as well as in the case of the Istanbul Convention, expressing hope that they would not vote on the ‘blocked’ as ‘blockheads’.

When asked if the SDP supports a reduction in the general VAT rate, Maras emphasized that this is one of many unfulfilled promises of the current Government.

– Plenković announced during the election campaign that he would reduce VAT by one percent in the first year of his mandate, and by another percent by the end of his term, Maras recalled. In his opinion, at this moment, given the economic growth, there is a possibility of reducing VAT and reducing the state deficit.

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– At this moment, we need to invest in consumption, citizens, and a competitive economy, but the question arises as to why gentlemen Plenković and Marić do not fulfill the promises made two years ago, said Maras.

Bauk commented on the results of the Crobarometer survey, according to which the popularity of the SDP has fallen to 18 percent while the Living Wall lags behind them by only four percent, assessing that this is “not an alarm, but some kind of light that flickers and indicates caution is always present, both when you are growing and when you are falling, so in that regard, the situation is regular.”