Speaking at the 23rd anniversary of the HDZ's Dubrovnik branch, he criticised the government's treatment of the southern town of Dubrovnik, saying it stopped the construction of the Peljesac bridge while offering no other solution to connect the south with the rest of the country. "The only thing they have shown in their work so far is that they don't know how to run the state."

Karamarko underlined the contribution of Croatia's first President, the late Franjo Tudjman, to the creation of Croatia, saying the time of de-Tudjmanising Croatia was long gone.

Also today, the strongest opposition party's National Committee for the Economy said the announced tax on real estate was a poll tax on years of service and not on wealth.

For 98 per cent of Croatians, buying a property is a form of saving, a way and style of life and the backbone of a family's security, while at the same time only two per cent of Croatians hold 90 per cent of total bank savings whose value is much higher than that of real estate, the committee said in a statement.

The HDZ said the newest tax would take its toll again on farmers, workers and pensioners, adding that the government was committing a big social injustice by favouring tycoons.

The bulk of citizens are in debt, many properties are mortgaged, the number of the jobless is nearly 340,000 and jobs are disappearing, the prices of energy and food have gone up and all this will make it impossible for citizens to pay loans, let alone taxes, the HDZ said, adding that banks and the state would seize those properties to sell at public auctions to those with the highest incomes, foreigners or Croatians who have more than 220 billion in total bank savings.