Interview with the president of the party We Want Justice
Dragica Trumbetaš is a Croatian politician and social activist, the president of the We Want Justice party, founded in 2022, which advocates for the rights of pensioners, workers, and farmers. Trumbetaš is known for her outspoken and critical columns commenting on social and political topics, including the state of healthcare, social welfare, and political culture in Croatia.
She is a retiree with many years of experience in the Končar factory. For her work in a place where added value is created, she has been awarded prizes for high productivity, for new innovative solutions with huge savings in the time required to manufacture active parts of transformers.
In addition to her great work potential, she was active in the fight for the respect of workers' rights to fair compensation for work. After retirement, and due to the development of an occupational disease, her fighting spirit drew her into politics, as a reaction to the emergence of increasing injustices in society that arose due to discrimination against workers, and most of all pensioners.
Why did you decide to join the We Want Justice party?
After deciding to actively engage in politics, my first choice was the Croatian Party of Pensioners, as a choice appropriate to my age, experience, and knowledge of all the injustices to which older people are exposed who have a handicap in knowing how to exercise their rights, but also a handicap in knowing new technological solutions in communication between citizens and institutions.
However, the HSU did not open up space for the fight for greater rights, but rather imposed coalitions with the HDZ on its members, without any coordination with the members.
Continuing to work in the HSU, which was in coalition with the HDZ, was not an option for me, so with some like-minded people, I founded the party Hočemo sredstvo in 2022. I have been the president of the party since its founding.
The party has registered branches throughout Croatia. We have our elected councilors in city assemblies, local committees in the city of Zagreb and on the islands, and to our great satisfaction in Kaštela as well, and that is the councilor Mary Bedalov Smoje.
What are the party's priorities, what does it stand for?
The Hočemo odgovorno party has focused its political struggle on the rights of workers, farmers, and retirees. Since its founding, it has been very involved in pointing out injustices in society, including the entire spectrum of discriminatory laws that deprive workers and retirees of their natural rights to a dignified life in old age.
I don't think that we are better than others, but I believe that we better represent a very large generation - primarily retirees. Our program is designed to reach exactly them, and I believe we have more understanding of their real needs than many other policy options.
How do you plan to achieve the program, that is, the set goals?
We have submitted a request to the Constitutional Court to review the constitutionality of the Maternity Allowance Act, which discriminates against mothers and adoptive parents based on their retirement year, under which all mothers would be entitled to maternity allowance.
We held a series of protests where we demanded higher pensions by 10,5% in order to eliminate the historical error in the initial calculation, we demanded a 13th pension equal to the 12th, we demanded the abolition of the penalty for reaching the age of 65. We demanded and are still demanding that pensions be adjusted without a time lag, that is, for each past month according to the most favorable calculation parameter.
By developing the party at local levels, with a large number of supporters, we hope to achieve a critical mass that will initiate changes in Croatia, primarily in the Pension Insurance Act, as well as other laws that threaten the existence and rights of all Croatian citizens.
What will you be working on in particular, considering all of the above?
The party has defined goals for which it will continue to fight with all legal means from the position it currently occupies.
1. Pension reform that will abolish all discriminatory laws in the pension system and separate pensions under general regulations from pensions under privileged regulations.
2. Timely and accessible healthcare for all citizens, with logistical support for older people, so that they can stay in their homes as long as possible, by establishing mobile teams for logistical support for the elderly and people with disabilities in their homes, as well as sufficient accommodation capacities for the elderly and infirm, at a price that is around the average pension.
4. We will fight for the Government to comply with the realization of the legal rights of all citizens of the Republic of Croatia in the time stipulated by the law (inclusive supplement).
5. We will advocate for a change in the Electoral Law, which would eliminate the possibility of setting electoral units according to the draft of the current government.
In your opinion, what contributes to the quality of life in Croatia?
The Hočemo sredstvo party places the price of labor that can cover living expenses, the inclusion of pensioners in the fight for their rights, and daily highlighting of corruption as the fundamental goal of its struggle.
By encouraging citizens' resistance to politicians who support or are involved in corruption, we believe that ultimately the quality of life of the elderly population and all other vulnerable segments of society will be improved.
What is the biggest personal disappointment you have experienced since you have been in politics?
My greatest disappointment is realizing how easily promises are broken and political friendships are destroyed. Joint programs quickly fall into the background due to individual interests.
We are open to cooperation with anyone who has a similar agenda and who does not represent the narrow interests of individuals or interest groups.
Today's political scene is shaped by sponsors. On one side are profiteers, on the other idealists. The solution is to remove profiteers from key decision-making positions and return the focus to the public interest.
Do you have any message for citizens?
Today, few political parties deal with the standard of living of citizens as a primary goal, only incidentally and occasionally, depending on the audience. The standard of living of citizens is at a critical stage, poverty threatens the middle class, and little is being done to significantly improve it.
In our work, we are motivated by the situation of pensioners who are not on the edge but in the pit of poverty. They try to give them crumbs to keep them satisfied, but the situation is unbearable.
We are at the bottom of Europe in terms of pensions, as well as the share of pensions in the average salary. Given prices and value added tax rates, pensioners are on the verge of survival. Health care is very poor and there are long waiting lists. This must change.
– We want justice in all segments of society – from school to burial, justice must be restored because without it we are helpless, and that is not the way of life we want to leave to our children. It may be too late for us, but children must have a secure future.
So join us in our party, because the name of the party contains everything we fight for: WE WANT JUSTICE!
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Photo: HP
