The United States (U.S.) envoy for changes to the Election Law, Matthew Palmer, while trying to carry out the task of electoral reform that started a long time ago, contrary to other U.S.officials, yesterday in Zagreb called Milorad Dodik’s moves rhetoric, thus diminishing their significance.
The day before his arrival in Sarajevo, the third in a short period, Palmer visited Zagreb and held a meeting with the Prime Minister of Croatia, Andrej Plenkovic. In this regard, when asked by journalists what he thinks of the behavior of Milorad Dodik and the claims that he is a key destabilizing factor, he explained yesterday that the rhetoric of Dodik and Banja Luka does not help.
“It is true, we see that the rhetoric coming from Dodik and Banja Luka does not help, creates tension, and undermines the Dayton system. We still try to believe that an agreement on electoral reform that is consistent with the principle of one state, two entities, and three constituent peoples plus others, which also deals with judgments of the European Court of Human Rights is something that will help overcome those efforts. Failure to reach an agreement will make things difficult, ” told Palmer.
His interpretation comes at a time when the National Assembly of Republika Srpska (NARS) passed the Law on Medicines and Medical Devices, which violates state competencies, and after RS Prime Minister Zeljka Cvijanovic annulled Inzko’s law.
In order to fulfill the extremely difficult task of electoral reform, Palmer seems to be consciously diminishing the moves of the SNSD president, because without his support it cannot be carried out in the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PABiH). The decisions of the NARS are not rhetoric but a practical materialization of Dodik’s longstanding threats that bring the country and the entire region into a security crisis.
Palmer did not expect the situation to be further complicated since his last stay in Sarajevo, but in the meantime, Dodik crossed the red line and made any conversation meaningless. Despite that, Palmer confirmed that it is more important for him to implement the Electoral Reform, regardless of the fact that the price of that will be legitimizing the actions of the SNSD president.
The proof that he is in a hurry and that he is trying to make a rotten compromise is yesterday’s claim that we should focus only on the Presidency of BiH, and that the houses of the representatives should be left for a better time. Aware of the gravity of the crisis in which BiH finds itself, Palmer wants to achieve any success, thereby reducing the task set for himself, despite the fact that a partial solution can only deepen and not relax the situation.
E.Dz.
Source: Klix.ba
