The parliamentary opposition Glas party said on Tuesday that a government proposal to restrict Sunday trading was "harmful populism and hypocrisy" by the ruling HDZ party, noting that the government had not thought about fair remuneration for Sunday work.

“(Economy) Minister (Tomislav) Coric of the HDZ and Prime Minister Plenkovic himself have been insisting lately on banning Sunday trading so strongly that uninformed onlookers might conclude that their government has nothing better to do. And they have been doing so amidst a pandemic and crisis and after two disastrous earthquakes,” the party said in a statement.

Glas noted that the government was not thinking about how to ensure fair remuneration for people who work on Sundays in the retail sector.

“If the government were really interested in solving the problem, it would accept Glas’ proposal for fair pay for Sunday work, instead of turning it down several times,” the party said, adding that its MP Anka Mrak-Taritas would again submit a proposal to that effect to the parliament.

“It is also interesting how the HDZ sees the development of Croatia’s tourism – shops would be allowed to work 16 Sundays a year, which means that the government restricts in advance the tourist season to that many weeks,” Glas said.