Tuesday, June 25, 2013
A1.18D (Oudemanhuispoort)
Current second-tier organization in Croatia is based on twenty counties and the City of Zagreb which has county status. Counties were established in 1993and until 2001 were predominantly responsible for deconcentrated state administration and enjoyed very narrow autonomy. That is why county elections were considered to be third-order elections, after national and local elections. What was really important was the election of county governors – they were elected by the county assemblies with final approval of the President of the Republic. After 2001, counties were rearranged as autonomous units, without any state administrative tasks, and with widened self-government scope. County elections became second-order, along with local elections. At the moment, a new regional concept with only five historical regions is under serious professional and political debate. In the near future, the introduction of new, genuine regional organization is very likely. If those five new regions with broad autonomous scope of affairs are established, including regional development and regional economy, regional elections may become even first-order elections.
