Speaking at a news conference in parliament, SDP members Zeljka Antunovic and Davorko Vidovic said that the pension system should be changed by a consensus of all interested parties (workers, pensioners, social partners and political parties) and not under fast-track procedure in parliament.
Antunovic said that the main problem in Croatia was declining employment and a rising number of pensioners. The government does not say anywhere in its bill that it is responsible for such a situation, said Antunovic.
"How many more employees there would have been and how much more stable the pension system would have been if the money stolen in frauds we have been witnessing lately had stayed in the business sector, if the government had made the state less expensive and facilitated investments," she said.
SDP official Davorko Vidovic said the government's proposal to encourage people to continue working after the age of 65 was so silly it did not deserve comment.
He added that the proposal would only encourage clerks to continue working after 65, but not people such as labourers.
The SDP is also against equating the retirement age for men and women because it restricts womens' rights.
The SDP proposes as a condition for obtaining the right to normal pension the number of years of service, as well as rewards for those with full years of service, and a gradual increase in contribution rates for the second pension pillar, the one based on private insurance funds.