Leader of the opposition Zivi Zid party, Ivan Vilibor Sincic, appeared on N1 television's morning show Novi Dan, and answered questions on the upcoming pension reform, their poll ratings, and the recent measles outbreak in southern Croatia.

According to polls, Zivi Zid, considered a left-leaning populist group similar to Spain’s Podemos, is the third strongest party in the country.

The Labour and Pension System Minister, Marko Pavic, presented the proposed pension reform, which was met with lots of reactions. What would be your reply?

“In this sort of country any pension system model is unsustainable and bad. This reform is ridiculous because the minister doesn’t even know what to suggest. He proposes something only to retract it when coalition partners are opposed to it. We are against increasing (tax) burden, Croatians are already paying enough, we are against extending retirement age to 67. We are against the Swiss model because it leads to reduction in pensions by 1 percent per year. Our proposal is to allow all citizens who think it would be good for them to voluntarily transfer their savings from the 2nd pillar to the 1st pillar.”

Isn’t that what Minister Pavic proposed?

“No, the minister suggested a series of other things, but his entire concept is wrong. Almost all countries who had this system have either abandoned it or froze it. We proposed the introduction of a minimum national pension, which would cost about 4 billion kuna per year. That’s not a lot of money, that can be financed from the modest (economic) growth that we have. Which those in power will just spend on all sorts of stuff, again, like (fighter) planes.”

The Social Democrats (SDP), is the largest opposition party and the second largest party in the country, is going through a lot of problems nowadays.

“I would refrain from commenting on their internal conflicts, but whenever the opposition in parliament is supposed to vote against the ruling coalition, half of them aren’t even there. I don’t know why, it’s sad to watch.”
But their internal disputes are good for your party’s rating?

In part, yes, but not as much as the media like to think. We draw support from all groups of voters. SDP’s ratings are in free fall because former SDP leader Zoran Milanovic had made poor choices for party appointments, and also because what they offer in terms of programme does not match what the people need.

According to the latest polling from earlier this month, the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) is at 27.6 percent, followed by SDP at 18.5 percent, and Zivi Zid at 13.8 percent. This means that after many months, your rating has inched down a bit?

“There are always ups and downs. It’s nice to enjoy such a high rating in the polls, but I’m not really worried about it personally. We just do things the way we think is best, and in general it produces good results.”

Is it possible that the measles outbreak in Dubrovnik might have something to do with it? The public often saw you as somebody vocally opposing vaccination.

“I don’t think that was the reason, nor did I hear that many saw me closely related to that issue. But why do people refuse to vaccinate their children? It’s because the system is losing their trust, because it is not transparent. There are side effects, doctors are afraid to report them, there is a whole set of non-transparent problems. If this was a matter of free choice, transparency would return, and people would be more informed. Measures of repression can’t change anything, I don’t think such an approach will result in higher vaccination rates.”

If somebody refuses to have their children vaccinated, should they have the right to demand that their children go to the public kindergarten?

“Yes, they should. Kindergartens for those children too should be set up.”

So, what you are suggesting is separate kindergartens for non-vaccinated children?

“That’s a question professionals need to answer. We shouldn’t force anyone to put anything in their body that they think is useless. In western countries where there is freedom of choice, there is also more trust, more information, and higher vaccination rates.”

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