ENORMOUS SALARIES FOR OFFICIALS

AIM Zagreb, 15 July, 1998

Franjo Tudjman, Croatian President well known for massive production of miracles and "miracles", performed another one in the past few days: he succeeded in making himself equal tothe statesmen of the leading most powerful states in the world. His well known dream is fulfilled only when salary is concerned. The Croatian State Assembly passed last week the so-called Law on Obligations and Rights of State Officials. According to this Law, the gross salary of the President of the Republic will amount to enormous 110,000 kunas per month, which translated into the language understandable to everyone means that the Croatian headman will receive a gross salary of 16,566 US $ every month! In this way Tudjman joined the leading statesmen in the world.

When tax is subtracted from this sum, Tudjman will have a net sum of 14 thousand German marks or 8 thousand dollars every month. On the annual basis, Tudjman will be receiving somewhat less than 200 thousand dollars (gross sum), or 168 thousand German marks net. The Croatian President could easily put this money on his saving account since all his expenses are covered by the state, i.e. from the budget. This will, even nominally, make Tudjman one of the wealthiest Croats. Mean salary in the state amounts to 2500 kunas, or somewhat less than 700 German marks.

Immediately after the vote in favour of this law, Zagreb morning paper (Jutarnji list) published the data about salaries of other states presidents. Comparisons are really shocking. Bill Clinton receives 35,000 dollars a month, which is a lot according to our standards, but his salary is only seven times bigger than the average salary of an American. But, it is hardly twice as big as headman Tudjman's salary. Roman Herzog, German President, receives one thousand marks more than the headman, exactly 15 thousand German marks flows into his pocket every month. But this is only six times more than the German average. Thomas Klestil, Austrian President, receives 15,000 marks a month which is proportionally similar to the ratio between the German average and the German President. Vaclav Havel, President of the Czech Republic receives net monthly salary of seven thousand marks, and another seven thousand as presidential allowance; he is also inclined to a high style of living. The Hungarians are paying Arpad Genz, their President, meagre 2300 marks, which is still ten times more than the average Hungarian salary, but in comparison with Tudjman, Clinton or Herzog, the poor Hungarian is a real pauper. What could then Kiro Gligorov, Macedonian President, be said to be since he receives a monthly salary of 1500 marks only?

But, Tudjman is by no means like Gligorov. When he was for the first time reproached for buying an aeroplane for the needs of the presidential palace in the middle of the war, Tudjman calmly replied: should the president of the state ride a bicycle? This answer was later included in a collection of jokes about the big statesmen of the XX century, the author of which was a Croatian journalist, of course. On the occasion of purchasing the second aeroplane, a Challenger worth about 20 million marks, no one asked Tudjman anything. Everybody knew that the President cannot ride a bicycle.

But, not only Tudjman's salary was increased. Salaries of other state officials, members of the Government and the representatives in the parliament, also increased three to five times, i.e. by 300 to 500 percent. The chairman of the Chamber of Representatives of the Croatian State Assembly, Vlatko Pavletic, will receive 25 thousand kunas, or about 7 thousand marks; chairman of the Chamber of Districts of the Assembly will have a thousand kunas less (about 6700 marks), same as the president of the Supreme Court, president of the Constitutional Court and the president of the Croatian National Bank. Government vice prime ministers as well as judges of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court will receive a thousand kunas less, followed by the public attorney, the state prosecutor of the Croatian Republic, head of the president's office, state auditor, and the head of the National Security Office who will be receiving a thousand kunas less. Let us not list all the junior officials, but the ministers will be receiving 20 thousand kunas (five and a half thousand marks) the same as representatives in the Assembly, while deputy ministers, mayors, district prefects and other low rank officers will receive somewhat less than five thousand marks.

Unbelievable! But, what make the wonder even bigger, as the above said shows, all state officials, and Assembly representatives will receive such salaries regardless of their party affiliation. Representatives of the renowned Croatian opposition will, therefore, be enjoying the benefits of the new law equally as the corrupt supporters of the regime. The already tame group of critics, who only occasionally hint that some differences exist between them and the regime (significant differences have not yet been discovered), will thus remain pacified for a long time, because such high salaries will be a profit that, once grabbed, no one would easily let go. At the present situation this is closely connected to the existing political circumstances. Some more serious critics of the Croat Democratic Community (HDZ) and Franjo Tudjman have up to now regularly emphasised two reasons why the Croatian opposition is so meek: one is in the sphere of ideology (essential agreement with the basic aims of the HDZ project, with the criticism of certain methods); and the second is in the range of practice. Up to now, the opposition politicians in the Assembly have already had salaries high above the average, and the HDZ calmed them successfully by giving them membership in Supervisory Boards of big Croatian enterprises which brought them significant amounts of money. Membership in Supervisory Boards will soon become impossible for the members of the political elite, so enormous salaries is the new method which was invented for their well-being, and the excuse for it was found in spreading the "anti-corruption atmosphere". It is estimated that well-paid state officials will be resistant to bribe, and independent.

Although the excuse sounds well, being universal, these drastic increases caused a lot of fury among the Croatian people, who receive the average of 2500 kunas (about 700 marks) a month. We say average, but it should be said that the average salaries in most industries are significantly lower. So, merchants work for salaries of 1300 kunas (less than 400 marks), workers in textile industry something similar, and the teachers receive salaries of about 800 marks. Last time when similar salaries of state officials were registered was the period of Ante Markovic, when the industry was rather powerful and the average salaries were higher than one thousand marks; the Assembly vice chairman had a salary somewhat higher than 6 thousand marks. But this period lasted a very short time.

The teachers' trade union Preporod reacted most keenly concerning the increase of salaries, up to now. In the statement, signed by Vinko Filipovic, its president, it was declared that the Croatian Government and the ruling party "reached the bottom of morality" by this decision. "Only the government which lost all connection with those whom it represents could increase salaries of state officials by 300 to 500 per cent. In this space, no government since the seventh century has shown such selfishness, arrogance, insensibility, impudence and shamelessness towards its citizens," (for the ignorant ones: according to the official HDZ mythology, this is the century when the Croats started waiting for the arrival of HDZ and the Headman). The trade union states further on that the law was passed at the moment when there is more than 100 thousand unemployed people, when 100 thousand workers work but receive no salaries and when almost 800 thousand retired people live below the living minimum. "By passing this law the Government showed how much it cares about Croatia. Croatia is for them only the means for fulfilment of personal interests." Teachers and professors were especially bitter due to the fact that only a few days ago, during their strike, Government officials declared that there was no money, and voted now the increase of their salaries of a few hundred per cent.

The most important consequence of this procedure could be the extreme discrediting of the opposition. Alexis de Tocqueville, French theoretician of democracy thought that people endure unequality with more difficulty than lack of freedom. The regimes fall, as the case of Ante Markovic showed, not when everyone is at the social bottom but when growth starts with social unequality accompanying it. In this sense the slogan of the HDZ before the last elections "Good life for everybody, not only for them", was almost ingenious, nearly equally to the HDZ slogan at first elections ("It is known"). What would the formula be now? "Good life for everybody, not only for us". It seems that the opposition is not strong enough to give react to this bribery, and their agreement to bribery revolted ordinary citizens more than the idea of the HDZ - anything could have been expected from them anyway. The strongest reaction of the opposition in Croatia came from the Istrian Democratic Union (IDS). Their representatives decided to reject such salaries, but they would take the money for the party needs. It would be difficult to expect a stronger reaction, because IDS is the champion when criticism is concerned in many fields. At this moment, it is completely uncertain whether the Croats will show their fury in some other way. All those who could call the citizens to go out into the streets, would loose such attractive, enormous salaries by doing so.

But this is not all that can cause fury of the ordinary citizen. If, one day, president Tudjman, who is used to living in luxury, would retire (numerous sceptics believe that such possibility exists only in theory), the state would take care so that the creator of Croatian miracles would not feel degraded: "the Lively old man" as Feral Tribune called him, would be receiving a pension of about 45 thousand kunas (about 12 thousand marks). This is equal to 30 average pensions in the independent, sovereign and democratic Croatia.

But, one should not even imagine that Franjo Tudjman could retire. He will probably rule Croatia for as long as he lives, except if some decisions like this one happend to cause sufficiently strong fury of the voters. But, this would be another Croatian miracle. Up to now they have never seemed to be extremely revolted by any action of HDZ, but one never knows what could be the proverbial drop that would make the cup run over. Maybe this was the one?

BORIS RASETA