Ljubo Jurčić

Ljubo Jurčić

Ljubo Jurčić (pronounced [ʎǔːbɔ jûːrtʃitɕ]; born March 20, 1954) is a Croatian economist, current president of the Croatian Association of Economists[1] since 2006[2] and former Croatian Minister of the Economy (2002–2003).[3]

Ljubo Jurčić is a Bosnian Croat born in the village of Ružići, near Grude, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia. Three of his uncles died in World War II, including one Maksimilijan Jurčić, a Franciscan friar who was killed by Yugoslav Partisans in 1945.[4] He graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Zagreb and became a doctor of economic science.

From July 2002 to December 2003 he served as Economy minister in the second Cabinet of Prime Minister Ivica Račan.[3]

Although he was not a member of the ruling Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP) party, he was closely aligned with them as a non-partisan economic expert. As head of SDP's Council for Economy and Development, Jurčić formulated SDP's economic strategy that would be implemented should the party win the 2007 elections.[5] The Social Democrats' Main Committee, following a proposal by party chairman Zoran Milanović, named Jurčić as SDP's candidate for the office of Prime Minister.[6]

On November 30, 2007, this decision was reverted, with the election still running, and he was substituted with Zoran Milanović.[7]

Ljubo Jurčić remained in SDP ranks while still showing his definite non-partisan attitude by publicly defending singer Marko Perković Thompson from accusations that have arose after his successful May 2008 concert in Ban Jelačić Square.[8] At the same time, he has published in and is a member of the editorial board of the left-wing magazine Novi Plamen.[9]

On July 12, 2009 Jurčić contended a party primary to be nominated the SDP candidate for the December 27 presidential elections, but was defeated by the Law professor and musician Ivo Josipović.[10]

In May 2011, Jurčić left SDP and became an independent representative in the Parliament.[11] In September 2011, Jurčić announced that his new party Croatian Economic Initiative (Hrvatska ekonomska inicijativa), would enter into a pre-election coalition with the Bloc Pensioners Together (Blok Umirovljenici zajedno).[12] On October 6, 2011, he signed a formal pre-election coalition agreement with the representatives of the Party of Pensioners and the Alliance of Primorje-Gorski Kotar.[13] By November, they named their coalition "Znati kako" and extended it to include another small party, the Croatian Labour Party.[14] Their election lists failed to enter the parliament.

References

  1. ↑ "Organizacijska struktura" (in Croatian). Hrvatsko društvo ekonomista. Retrieved 2011-11-14.
  2. ↑ "Ljubo Jurčić u misiji povezivanja ekonomista biznisa i politike". Poslovni dnevnik (in Croatian). 2006-04-14.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Vlada Republike Hrvatske - kronologija - Vlada: 8" (in Croatian). Croatian Information-Documentation Referral Agency. Retrieved 2011-11-14.
  4. ↑ "Ljubo Jurčić o partizanskom zločinu: Moja obitelj zbog straha dugo nije govorila o ujakovoj likvidaciji" (in Croatian). 2009-11-08. Retrieved 2011-11-14.
  5. ↑ "Jurčić umirovljenicima nudi recept za 10 posto više mirovine" [Jurčić offers retired persons a recipe for 10 percent increase of income]. Vjesnik (in Croatian). 2011-05-25. Archived from the original on 2012-06-14. Retrieved 2011-11-14.
  6. ↑ "Milanović želi biti šef Sabora, Jurčić premijer". Jutarnji list (in Croatian). 2007-07-10. Retrieved 2011-11-14.
  7. ↑ "Preokret u SDP-u: Milanović mijenja Jurčića!". Business.hr (in Croatian). 2007-11-30. Retrieved 2011-11-14.
  8. ↑ "Neke više smeta hrvatska zastava nego sam Thompson" (in Croatian). Javno.com. 2008-05-31. Retrieved 2011-11-14.
  9. ↑ "O Novom Plamenu (About Novi Plamen)". Novi Plamen. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
  10. ↑ "Ivo Josipović je kandidat SDP-a za predsjednika RH" (in Croatian). Nova TV. 2009-07-13. Retrieved 2011-11-14.
  11. ↑ "Ljubo Jurčić napušta SDP! O odlasku nije obavijestio Milanovića". Jutarnji list (in Croatian). 2011-05-26. Retrieved 2011-11-14.
  12. ↑ "Jurčić s Blokom umirovljenika cilja na mjesto u Vladi". Večernji list (in Croatian). 2011-09-03. Retrieved 2011-11-14.
  13. ↑ Ljubo Jurčić, SU i PGS zajedno na izbore, Nova TV, 2011-10-06, accessed 2011-11-26
  14. ↑ "Ljubo Jurčić: Moj koncept države je država blagostanja, a ne neoliberalistička država". Novi list (in Croatian). 2011-11-12. Retrieved 2011-11-14.

External links