Head of the OSCE Mission in BiH Jonathan Moore criticized the political decisions that led to the increase of tensions. He assessed the referendum on the Day of Republika Srpska as a sign of weakness of certain politicians and he said that the failures to implement decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH are a sign of political immaturity which will not be tolerated on the EU path.
Judiciary was one of the burning issues in BiH in 2016. From attacks, to attempts of political influence, to scandals. How do you comment on this situation?
When it comes to judicial institutions, I am still an optimist. We got support from various judicial institutions, the Court of BiH and the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council regarding our analysis of work on national level on the processing of war crimes. We heard very positive reactions. However, those institutions cannot be the targets for individuals, political parties, or any other political forces.
Another issue that caused tensions was the referendum in the RS, which was declared unconstitutional, but which was implemented anyways.
What does a referendum mean? You could say it is a democratic mechanism, but we also know that a referendum can be misused within the democratic mechanism, but to still represent an election trick or a provocation. In a democratic society, we have elections where we choose our representatives. Those chosen politicians are then responsible for making decisions in our name and not just threaten with a referendum. Referendum held on September 25 was totally unnecessary, even problematic.
When it comes to new possible referendums or referendums on some other levels, that is neither necessary nor practical for Bosnia and Herzegovina. People now openly speak about judicial institutions, Constitutional Court, etc. Okay, there can be political debate in the press and in the parliament about it, but a referendum is the sign of weakness of those politicians. If they do not know what the people think, they should resign so that some new politicians who know what the people think could do their job properly.
Last year was full of ups and downs. How do you see 2017?
There are many concrete things, but the fact is that there is no more party discipline and the majority of politicians are not doing their work properly. That is very problematic.
I cannot deny that the international community is not guilty to some extent for some issues, but I cannot say that there is no optimistic view of the situation. When we look at all the horrible events in the world, Bosnia and Herzegovina is still a sovereign country, that sovereignty is entirely under protection of the international community, and in comparison with things from the past, I think that the future of BiH is not questionable at all. It is still possible to make steps forward.
(Source: fokus.ba)
