The leader of the HDZ Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Dragan Covic, stated yesterday that “ethnic prefixes” should not be negotiated when electing the government in BiH, and that the bare minimum is to ensure the equality of the three constituent peoples determined by the Constitution of BiH.
Reacting to the proposal of the United States (U.S.) envoy onelectoral reform in BiH, Matthew Palmer, to remove the ethnic sign, Covic explained that the rational organization of BiH could be discussed, but not the issue of satisfying the need to ensure equality of the three peoples.
Covic told reporters in Odzak, where he met with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, that this was the “minimum” set by the Constitution and the Dayton Agreement.
“There is about three percent of ethnic signs in the electoral capacity, that is everything that concerns the constituent peoples in the Constitution of BiH and in all our laws. 97 percent represents a classic civic model, ” Covic told.
In Odzak, Plenkovic reiterated the position of Croatia, which insists that, ahead of the elections to be held in BiH in October next year, a consensus of political parties and institutions should be reached, with the support of the international community.
“This is planned to avoid a situation where Bosniak voters elect a Croat representative in government, which did not happen before 2006,” Plenkovic emphasized.
He called it disapproval of the letter, the spirit, and the political agreement reached in Dayton and Paris, and a practice that is bad for the relations between Croats and Bosniaks.
“Everything that we are doing is to promote trust and dialogue and to jointly find a solution where all peoples will feel goodand be represented as it is envisaged by the concept of one state, two entities, and three constituent peoples. That is Croatia’s position and we are talking to the European Union (EU) and U.S. representatives on that regard, ” Plenkovic noted, BHRT writes.
E.Dz.
