The opposition's reaction to the government's announcement to ban Sunday trading differed among parties with some saying it was a populist move that came before the election campaign, while others agree in principle because workers in the retail are exploited, but they all agreed workers should be paid better.

Leader of the centre-left SDP party, Pedja Grbin, said he believes it is a lie that this is a ban on Sunday trading because it actually bans sales only on Sundays.

Milos: The Green-Left bloc in principle agrees on banning Sunday trading

Jelena Milos (Green-Left Bloc) warned that the problem of shop workers who work unpaid overtime and receive wages below the minimum wage has not been solved for thirty years. That is why she considers the intervention of the state to be completely justified.

In addition, research shows that two-thirds of citizens support the prohibition of Sunday trading, so this will not have any drastic consequences on turnover in shops. The biggest problem may be with certain retail chains where turnover is highest on Sundays, but this will be shifted to other days of the week.

“We would like small shops, which are mostly family-run, to be allowed to work on Sundays because that is not involuntary work, and we will propose such an amendment. In principle, we agree with the ban on Sunday trading”, she said.

Populist conservative Most party advocates that workers be paid more for the days when they are not with their families, saying that their position is that every person has the right to choose to be with their family that day.

Stephen Bartulica (right-wing DP party) sees a dose of populism in the government’s proposal.

In Croatia, we have to promote the culture of work, and we are also a tourist country, so the question arises as to how we will ban the work of bakeries during the summer, the ruling majority needs to also take that into account.