After being elected as mayor and president of the City Council of Mostar, Mario Kordic and Salem Maric appeared together last night for the first time in front of the press at the City Hall. Kordic announced his devoted work, while Maric referred to the disunity of the pro-Bosnian block, which again failed to get a mayor, although they had a real opportunity to do so. Kordic reiterated that he is proud and that the new function is also a great responsibility for him.
“I said at the City Hall that I will invest my knowledge, skills, and energy to make this city better in the future. My friend Zlatko had an emotional speech. He said that in every derby someone has to lose and that’s the only thing I don’t agree with. This derby was for the City of Mostar. There are no winners or losers. I expect us to breathe as one soul. To make projects together and help each other, and of course, warn of irregularities that can occur even with the best of intentions. You can expect me to advocate and that we will make a great story. We will work together for the benefit of the Mostar citizens, ” said Mario Kordic, the new mayor of Mostar.
The journalists were also curious about whether and when they will start working on resolving the problems of citizens in the north who live next to Uborak, a landfill that has not had an environmental permit for 15 months now.
“During the campaign, we often communicated and mentioned the landfill, which is the number one priority in Mostar. We will deal with this topic very soon. We will make a detailed analysis of why this happened and 35 of us will surely listen to the profession and bring the right solution, ” Kordic announced.
His great wish is a broader coalition that will make the most important decisions for Mostar in the future.
“It is important that we preserve the good spirit that has started today. People will form an opinion of us from now on, but I think we are all winners. My idea is a broad coalition, seeking the consensus of all 35 councilors. It would make good decisions and quality suggestions. Everyone is welcome in the coalition,” Kordic emphasized yesterday.
The new president of the City Council, Maric, congratulated Kordic and his deputies, as well as all councilors on the constructive session, which this time went well from the beginning. He apologized on his behalf and on behalf of the Coalition for Mostar to the public, which had previously watched “unpleasant scenes” in the Council.
“Today, we did not have the opportunity to hear the explanation of those who last time asked for the postponement of the session and proposed the rotation of the mayor. The Coalition for Mostar accepted it with good intention, to remove the labels from us and SDA on alleged sales and agreements with HDZ of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). We tried to use every chance given to us by the BH block, thinking that we would succeed in getting our candidate at the position of mayor, for whom we are sure is outstanding. They did not even find it necessary to explain to us or to the citizens why they asked for additional time. I am sure we will continue working successfully. This is the third election cycle in which Bosniaks or pro-Bosnian parties had a majority, and unfortunately, we never got a mayor. It’s our fault. I continue to call for great unity because we have never needed it more. This was not easy to finish. Indeed, this was a derby. Unfortunately, we had honest players from HDZ BiH against us, as well as the much stronger players for who we did not expect to be in the other team. They were against the BH block, which in every way wanted to get a mayor without an election victory. We handled all attacks, and in the end, it was shown who was capable of what. The Office of the High Representative (OHR) was also against us. They took the side of HNS or HDZ BiH once again. We were primarily opposed by the presidents of the BH block member parties, who used the media space each day to divide the Coalition for Mostar and the BH block so that we could not get a mayor. Unfortunately, a councilor who calls himself a legitimate Serbian representative in the Council was also against us. When you look at the whole situation, the pro-Bosnian parties in the Council did not have a chance,” Maric stated yesterday.
He thanked the councilors of the Coalition for Mostar, especially those who are not from SDA, and who continued to be united despite “attempts to break the unity”.
“Thanks to everyone who helped in the campaign, first of all to presidents Izetbegovic, Radoncic, Komsic, Jerlagic, and Halilovic. I call on them to remain united until the end, to push through this mandate together, and to stand united in the next elections as well. I hope that we will prove that we know and want to work during this mandate. We have to do it for the sake of our citizens, ” Maric told.
