Grbin criticizes the Government: The new increase in the residence tax is ‘incomprehensible’

SDP representative Peđa Grbin criticized the Government on Tuesday in Pula for wanting to increase the residence tax again and for trying to solve the problems of Croatian tourism by raising prices.

Grbin stated at a press conference in Pula that the Government used the World Cup to conduct consultations with the interested public regarding the increase in the residence tax, and instead of inviting all stakeholders in the process, it wants to forcibly increase the residence tax, even though it has already done so this year.

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“We are coming to a situation where, in response to the problems that Croatian tourism is facing today, the only proposal is to increase prices. Namely, in 2015, 410 million kuna was collected from the residence tax, while two years later, without any price increase, we reached 463 million kuna. And what is the Government doing? It raises the tax, and that amount in 2018 reaches 540 million kuna,” said Grbin, adding that in three years, 130 million kuna was collected from the tourism sector to redirect it to tourist boards, especially to the Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ).

“It is unclear where that collected money ends up, and it is unclear why absolutely nothing is being done to rationalize the operations of tourist boards. Even that 540 million kuna is not enough for the Government, as it proposes a new increase for 2019, which is incomprehensible,” asserted the SDP representative.

The crisis in the SDP shows no signs of ending

Grbin reiterated in Pula that the crisis in the party needs to be resolved, but he expressed concern that in the meantime, the crisis has become even deeper and that there is no end in sight.

“The crisis needs to be resolved as soon as possible, but I fear it will not be resolved because, in the meantime, it has become even deeper, and I believe I am not the only one who will say that there is no end in sight. Unfortunately, in the party leadership, which I no longer belong to after the suspension, there is no accountability, no moves are being made that would be good for the SDP, and if something radical and quick does not change, and if the party president does not realize how badly he is leading the party, the future is very bleak,” said Grbin.

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Stating that it is no secret what his views are on the leadership and the management of the party, for which he was also suspended, Grbin emphasized that this suspension does not change his views – that the situation in the SDP is not good and needs to be improved.

“We have a leadership crisis, and the response to this crisis was to exclude those who warned about it. This is a lack of accountability. Until ten days ago, the problem was Peđa, Siniša, Veki, and Miha because they were talking about something and leaking to the public, as unnamed sources, the information that the party president should leave,” said Grbin, adding that after their suspension, those who proposed the suspension began to do the same.

“Clearly, the problem was not with those who were suspended but with those who suspended them,” Grbin concluded.