The Independent Association of intellectuals Circle 99 reacted yesterday on the occasion of the public speeches of the high representative Christian Schmidt.
”It seems that High Representative Christian Schmidt, as well as those whose will he expresses, is radically wrong in the basic approach of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) as a country that “consists of three peoples that decide for themselves,” that destructive approach of every Ethno-nationalist, be it towards BiH or Ukraine, it doesn’t matter. This is why Circle 99 is dismayed by the recent public statements of High Representative Christian Schmidt in this spirit, as is the democratic public of BiH,” it is stated in the Circle 99 press release.
Although, as he stated, he is still studying the Constitution of BiH, Circle 99 believes that the intention to try to go beyond the powers given to the high representative – as established by Annex 10 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in BiH – is dangerous.
”It is true that the high representative, whoever it may be, is the final or ultimate interpreter of the civilian aspect of the Dayton Peace Agreement, but that does not include the Constitution of BiH, which is interpreted solely and exclusively by the Constitutional Court of BiH as the protector of constitutionality in this country. Nor are the decisions of any court, including the Constitutional Court of BiH, part of the civil aspect that Mr. Schmidt tries to interpret. It is even more unclear to the general public, why Mr. Schmidt persistently points out only the decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH in the “Ljubic” case, which does not in any way treat the entity constitutions in which he wants to intervene beyond his jurisdiction, except in the case when certain provisions of the entity constitutions are not in accordance with the Constitution of BiH. And only when the Constitutional Court of BiH so determines, as was the case in 2002. It is even more indicative of why he deals only with that decision, even though eminent experts in constitutional law, and even the Constitutional Court of BiH, have clearly pointed out the invalidation of the disputed provisions from the Election Law of BiH has ended the case for them. At the same time, the only remaining decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH which found parts of the entity constitutions unconstitutional is the “Komsic” decision from 2015, which is clearly not the focus of the High Representative’s attention. It seems that the agenda is planned, the one in which only those legal elements that maintain and even strengthen ethnic political and institutional divisions try to fit in beyond the jurisdiction,” it is further stated in the press release.
They believe that Schmidt’s acceptance of the hegemonic and paternalistic ideological narrative of the neighboring countries is dangerous, that in BiH “it is not about a majority or a minority, but about a country that has three communities or three constituent peoples.”
”Quite simply, because it stands in opposition to the political, and especially the democratic election process and parliamentary life, where it is always about the majority and the minority, as an expression of democracy that should be applied in BiH as well. The mentioned phrase only reflects the interests of separatist actors that democratic standards, that is, the fundamental principles of democracy, should not be applied in BiH. And who even ignore the results of the two previous population censuses, from 1991 and the one from 2013, because BiH is home to not only three but twenty ethnic communities, which under the veil of discrimination are called by the ugly attribute “others”. Especially since the population census is not a list of political preferences, but of various statistical facts and data, especially not religious, gender, ethnic and other individual self-determinations,” it is stated in the press release.
