In an interview, state parliamentarian and until recently the president of Our Party (Nasa Stranka), Predrag Kojovic, spoke about the turbulent political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) caused by changes to the electoral law, but also about what awaits our country and all its citizens.
High Representative Christian Schmidt three days ago imposed only technical changes to the electoral law and left little time for domestic political leaders to agree on what was speculated for 10 days and which is in favor of HDZ’s interests.
Do you think it is pointless to leave room for an agreement, if it is already known what Schmidt will impose and what would be the interest of the HDZ to give in in the meantime?
I don’t think it’s pointless and I don’t think it’s known what Schmidt will impose if there is no agreement. That’s how I understood the high representative at the last meeting. He showed determination to make the electoral process as fair as possible. He spoke mostly about the blockade in the Federation of BiH (FBiH), about the failure to appoint a new executive power, the incompleteness of the Constitutional Court of FBiH, about the abuse of the House of Peoples. And he spoke in a way that left little doubt that he would tolerate such things after October.
Although Mr. Covic‘s representative at the meeting called Schmidt’s decision on technical changes to the electoral law “unwise” and threatened with “problems in the south of the country” on several occasions, and demanded that he declare all the changes that have been talked about in recent days, my impression is that it won’t happen. I am almost certain that the Ljubic verdict will not be implemented through the introduction of a three percent ethnic census.
As for HDZ, I really try to understand their position, their arguments and judge them without any prejudice. Of course, I want BiH in which every citizen of BiH, regardless of ethnic and religious affiliation, feels at home in the entire territory. But I also want an efficient state, an administration that works for the interests of the citizens and a government that rapidly leads BiH towards the European Union (EU), towards a better standard of living, towards a better life for all citizens. I would never come to terms with living in a country where an ethnic or other group of citizens is systematically discriminated against. That is why I keep saying that Croats and Serbs and Bosniaks and Others will be truly equal when the principle of the rule of law makes all citizens of BiH equal throughout their territory.
HDZ considered that the Mostar agreement with Izetbegovicsolved what they consider to be the problem. That solution signed by Covic and Izetbegovic is the international community, which witnessed it and which takes this role of witness seriously, tried to impose it through negotiations on electoral and constitutional reform and lobbying and pressure on High Representative Schmidt. All this has led us nowhere, except that it has created an atmosphere in the country in which no reasonable agreement can most certainly be reached. It is necessary to reset, it is necessary to create an atmosphere, conditions in which it is possible to talk. Of course, there are red, I would say civilizational, lines that Our Party will never be willing to cross at any cost. But, if the HDZ is ready to talk about a European, modern state of BiH in which all its citizens are equal on every inch of its territory – we are ready. This is our country and we should all feel at home.
And one more thing… SDA, HDZ and SNSD rule together, if what they are doing to the state and citizens can even be called that. They are the cause of the problem and I do not believe that they can be part of the solution for BiH. They have created an atmosphere in which it is impossible to reach an agreement on the simplest life issues of citizens, let alone on something that is more complex and requires a pure heart, conscience and the use of the intellect. When the fishermen’s net gets tangled in knots, they throw it into the sea, smoke a cigar, and when they pull it out of the water, the knots are easily untied. That’s what I expect voters to say out loud on October 2nd.
Why doesn’t the opposition or at least the Trojka come out with joint lists for the elections for all levels of government?
It’s a math question. The formula by which the Central Election Commission (CEC) allocates mandates based on the number of votes generally favors individual rather than joint lists. What is crucial, and I would dare to say a historic political success, is that we managed to reach an agreement on Denis Becirovic as a joint candidate for a member of the Presidency. His victory would certainly mean a big step forward for BiH. Apart from the faces that the public knows, there is one honest, smart and hard-working Bosnian and Herzegovinian, and I will be proud to call him late at night on October 2nd and say, congratulations, my president.
And finally, what do you expect on October 3rd?
May those who call BiH our country win, Klix.ba writes.
E.Dz.
