Only 50 or so citizens gathered in Trg Bana Jelacica Square, unhappy with a social system in which companies were going bankrupt and the number of people living in poverty was increasing while a minority was getting richer and richer.

Trade union members did not attend despite calls from their leaders, who warned that citizens were under the increasing burden of remedying the consequences of wrong economic policies that have brought about the present crisis.

"May 12 is a chance for us to say we've had enough," organisers said, joining in the global resistance to the connections between politics and crime, banks and corporations.

Zorislav Antun Petrovic of the anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International Croatia said there was no reason for one per cent of the population to be using 99 per cent of global wealth. He said he believed that every country could ensure a good life for its citizens, but not at the expense of future generations.

Among the speakers was a worker of the bankrupt Zagreb textile factory Kamensko, who cited examples of fraud during the privatisation process and called on citizens to show solidarity in order to "save what can be saved."

A member of Civil Action said he could see no difference between slavery and capitalism in which people's labour and social rights were not respected, calling for action "to make tycoons' lives miserable".

Organisers said it was not enough for citizens to participate in an "election charade" every four years for the sake of maintaining an illusion of representative democracy. The 12M Platform - United for Global Change advocates collective action so that 99 per cent of humanity would start making rules, they said.

The United for Global Change protest was the continuation of a global protest held on October 15, 2011.