How to ''re-shape'' national holidays without too much resentment

You certainly know about the old maiden ''formula'' for a successful marriage. The legend says that a bride should have something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue on her wedding so the new spouses could happily overcome all Scylla and Charybdis life brings them.  This ‘’formula’’ for a marital success is a good trick that cannot be eradicated simply because it is a good trick and as a good trick it guarantees that only short flashback on a moment when happy groom is taking of a borrowed blue garter from a bride’s leg will definitely bring a smile of two old people that return to that … But what’s the connection between this maiden pleasantry and the Croatian Government and its reform maneuvers?

It’s because the Government has the intention to abolish the National day, the Anti-fascist struggle day and Corpus Christi as non-working days in order to increase efficiency of working people in Croatia. It is like they follow the bride's formula when they say it is the best option to take a little bit of old, a little bit of new, a little bit of this and a little bit of that. It's important that nobody gets upset. In other words, it is important when someone gets upset the Government can always rely to something like: ''What are you upset about? Don't play stupid, as you can see we didn't just take something from you but we took something from others as well...'' Croatians who describe themselves as state-building patriots as they could get upset that the inheritors of communism abolish their National day, so the Government might say they abolished the Anti-fascist struggle day as well. Old-fashioned antifascists could get upset for abolishing the holiday dedicated to his struggle against fascism, so the Government might say they abolished the National day as well. Religious holiday Corpus Christi was introduced only ten years ago as a non-working day so they count that Catholics won’t probably get too much upset since no one is messing around their Easter and Christmas holidays.

The first Government of SDP, led by deceased Ivica Racan, created a real chaos with the holidays by introducing some holidays that never got accepted among people. The National day that was ingrained among people like a grand holiday during the first ten years of the Croatian state was switched from the 30^th of May to the 25^th of June. And now no one knows when the National day is being celebrated. Some new dates were introduced that have its historical stronghold but people have never accepted it. No one can deny that the Independence Day that is being celebrated on the 8^th of October has a huge importance. On that day Croatia officially became an independent state. However, when it comes to that day there are few people in Croatia who know what they actually celebrate.

And there you go; the second SDP’s reign is messing same things again. Justification is not a political but economic matter. If people are going to work those three days, Croatia will have better fundaments. Anonymous accountants claim that economy would get a billion and hundred millions HRK only from one non-working day that would turn to a working day.

However, those who count know that the problem isn’t hiding in holidays and its number but in a habit of joining working days with holidays in order to have short vacations that last like extended weekend or even a 10days vacation. This habit won’t disappear by abolishing three non-working days. Croatians will still be joining working days with Christmas, Easter, Independence Day and New Year.The Government could do much more together with employers and trade unionist by dealing the changes of consciousness within such people who are eager to join working and non-working days. That would be much more instead messing up holidays that are going to be declared as memorial days and bit by bit fade. That could do much more for economy than miserable three days. However, politicians don’t know how to solve this problem so they decided not to deal with it anyway.

Furthermore, politicians were those who supported this tradition of joined holidays so they turn the Eastern Monday and St. Stephen's Day (on the 26^th of December) to non-working days so people could rest from holidays of Easter and Christmas and prepare themselves for going back to work. If they are thinking about abolishing non-working days, how come the Government doesn’t take away that Monday after Easter and St. Stephen's Day? They probably don’t want to resent to Church. It is much easier to take away, for example, the National day when this day is unfortunate day from the very beginning as it seems it has been doomed to be abolished. People loved that day and the Government that approached the scene 10 years after HDZ Government violated its power on that day. The day still exists but like it's been illegal since the new date has never reached people’s hearts. If it disappears, no one will cry about it since no one takes care about it anymore. For common people this day is unimportant just as the Independence day since Croatians lost feelings for its modern history long time ago due to political interventions  of holidays and feasts. For one regular person the only value of these dates is unfortunately the fact they are non-working days.

Instead of changing the way of behavior and trying to convince people they are only causing damage from joining non-working days, the Government takes scissors and is prepared to cut. A little bit of this, a little bit of that. Tear it here, take it there. In entire tangle it’s hard to repulse a thought that the idea about abolition of holidays was created so the attention could be drawn to less important things.

If this discussion gathers around some war veterans associations, some right-oriented political party, some red circles and groups of antifascist we will have a nice, verbal, typically Croatian, ideological fight. And this fight will burst flames while new taxes will be introduced, VAT will be growing, and a number of employees in state firms would be decreasing… We will find ourselves in the middle of a turbulent discussion about who is a true and who is a fake Croat, whose grandpa was Ustasha, and whose grandpa was a Partisan… Do we really need all that?