Elmedin Konakovic, the president of People and Justice (Narod i Pravda), said that no serious agreement had been reached yesterday: “Nothing has been signed, the agreement has not been finalized, but the participants say that these are the most concrete negotiations ever. Leaders are aware that something must be agreed upon. After cooling their heads for all three days the negotiations would be continued. Foreigners absolutely did not take anyone’s side, they proposed solutions that hurt equally, but also carry all sides. A right measure of ethnicity and civic must be found. We are satisfied with the treatment of the status of the ‘Other’caucus in the House of Peoples. I doubt that there may be an election blockade. There is a danger that some nations will boycott them. That would be even worse. “
Ilija Cvitanovic, president of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) in 1990, said no special progress had been made in Neum: “Things remained quite similar, only in these three days all the problems were identified, but there was no room for agreement. It is unacceptable that the Croatian people are not in the Constitution but in the Election Law. We offered a solution that the Venice Commission accepted so that anyone could run. We insisted on the legitimacy of the Croatian member of the BiH Presidency. But, with the deletion of the national determinant, that was not acceptable. It is unacceptable to choose the competencies of the House of Peoples and not to mention the case in which it would be reduced to the Republika Srpska (RS) Council of Peoples. We are ready to negotiate deadlines to prevent blockades, but we have not resolved that either. Negotiations were unsuccessful, I would not say that they failed, but they gave certain results.”
HDZ BiH President Dragan Covic said that the wish was to implement the agreement from Mostar and to give an answer to the legitimate representation in order to implement all judgments of the BiH Constitutional Court: “This is a step forward, we have a good basis because it is the first time that we have all put specific proposals and initiatives. We have made concrete proposals regarding the houses of the people and the members of the Presidency. Three models are in the phase of mutual harmonization. What is next, that’s the real question. This format is over, we have the opportunity to continue the talks in the next seven to 10 days on our own, so that the House of Peoples and the Presidency can be resolved. We did not do everything we set ourselves as the task, we are entering the election year unprepared for this process. My optimism is gone, but the fact is that there is no sense in working with people who have negotiated and led these processes so far, so I expect one of my colleagues to organize a meeting where we will try to reconcile these views.”
The head of the Operation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) mission to BiH, Kathleen Kavalec, said the experts participated in the negotiation process to advise on party proposals and to help consider proposals for measures: “Our role is to ensure that all solutions are in line with international standards. This includes training of members of polling stations, the introduction of guarantee mechanisms to prevent trade in positions. The second phase is the introduction of modern technologies gradually through the provisions of the Election Law. The participants agreed to strictly define the ban on hate speech in campaigns, misuse of public funds in the campaign. ”
The official of the U.S. Department of State for electoral reform in our country, Matthew Palmer, thanked the participants in the negotiations, who discussed difficult issues, and said that there were voices telling them not to do so: “They talked openly, honestly, and constructively about very important issues, and that is an exercise of political courage. We are at the end of the weekend of these talks, but this process is certainly not over. These problems we talked about will not go away. Strengthening democracy and ensuring an electoral process that is fair and implies responsibility is something we strive for. Ensuring the implementation of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights will help BiH on its path to the European Union (EU). Identifying an appropriate model that will enable Croats to have an adequate representation, ensuring strong and functional institutions in the Federation, none of these issues will disappear, they will have to be addressed. We, the U.S., and the EU remain partners but the politicians of this country must reach an agreement and implement this.”
Director of the European External Action Service Angelina Eichhorst said the talks were productive: “We had good and constructive meetings, talks were on very complex issues and they will continue. A better understanding of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights is needed, which requires limited constitutional changes. The OSCE has been very helpful, their experts in this field. There will be more talks on the issue of the Presidency and the functioning of the Federation. There have been many intensive talks but also progress in these fields, especially on the integrity package. We still have to work, the parties must continue to work. Three days are not enough for all of that, parties know that they will continue to work from here,” said Eichhorst.
Party of Democratic Action (SDA) President Bakir Izetbegovic said they were not far behind with solutions for transparency and integrity of the election process.
“Regarding the House of Peoples, the matter has been resolved, and in terms of the functioning of the FBiH and the election of a member of the Presidency, we were close. I am pleasantly surprised by the position of the Presidents of People and Justice, Alliance for a Better Future (SBB), and the People’s European Union of BiH (NES). We will probably continue the negotiations on our own. Very good, at times we thought we would finish the whole job. I think we will continue next week. Let’s move on, ” Izetbegovic added.
SBB President Fahrudin Radoncic said that all parties SDA, NIP, SBB, and NES were united in not allowing it that ethnical aspect is stronger in relation to the state of BiH: “There were a lot of proposals, the biggest progress was the result on integrity. This pro-Bosnian delegation was very unique. We want to enable the Croatian people to sovereignly elect a representative of their people, but we cannot go beyond the civil state. There are no winners, I think we are all defeated. We do not have a proposal for a legal solution that would be passed in the institutions of BiH. If there is no agreement in the next 10 days, it will further damage relations. We, the pro-Bosnian parties, will sit down again and try it on our own,” Radoncic said.
E.Dz.
Source: BHRT