After an expanded session of the party’s Presidency in Mostar, HDZ BiH President Dragan Čović said talks on forming a government will intensify after the party publishes the official election results and confirms its won mandates. He emphasized that HDZ BiH intends to hold talks with potential partners at the federal and state level, assessing that there are no obstacles to the adoption of laws necessary for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s progress toward the European Union.
Čović expressed regret because more than 400,000 invalid ballots passed through the scanners, while assessing the HDZ BiH election result as very good at all levels. He said the session adopted conclusions on implementing the election results.
According to him, after the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina appoints the structure, which he expects in the middle of next month, conditions will be created to nominate the Chair of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Speaking about possible coalitions, Čović emphasized that the composition of government at the state level will largely depend on the balance of power within the people’s caucuses of the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Whoever has the majority in the caucuses of the House of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina; those are the partners that can’t be avoided. It is becoming clear what that will look like. Three parties that will have the majority in those caucuses are familiar. You can play it differently, but that means cheating the system and the voters,” Čović said.
He added that he does not want to decide who will represent the Bosniak and Serb peoples in the government, but he believes that election results provide a basis for talks with political representatives of both peoples.
As an example, he cited his earlier meeting with SDP BiH President Nermin Nikšić, emphasizing that they had good cooperation and that SDP’s election result also opens room for an agreement.
Čović assessed that the distribution of seats in the people’s caucuses of the House of Peoples of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina could be shared between three parties that will have adequate representation, emphasizing that it is important to respect such a balance of power.
After talks with SNSD representatives, as he stated, the goal is to establish the new government as soon as possible.
Budget and European Laws
Čović stated that it has been agreed that the current convocation of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina proposes the budget to the new convocation, explaining that too much time has already been lost.
“The voters have spoken on who they want for the next four years. I think we can get the Federal Government faster than last time,” he said.
He announced he will go to Zagreb next week, and speaking about laws necessary for the European path of Bosnia and Herzegovina, he said he sees no reason why they cannot be adopted.
However, he singled out amendments to the Election Law as the main political priority of HDZ BiH.
“The Election Law is the priority of priorities for us. We will press ahead with our previous proposal,” Čović said.
In the end, he reiterated that it is necessary to wait for the official election results, after which he will strive to organize a joint meeting of potential partners to form the government in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and subsequently at the state level.
