Citizens’ Association “ReSTART BiH” organized protests today in front of the building of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, the American Embassy in BiH, and the Delegation of the European Union and the Embassy of the Republic of Germany in BiH.
The goal of the protest gathering is to express dissatisfaction with, as they said, “aggressive creations of the international community”, and through slogans they sent a series of messages to high officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as to High Representative Christian Schmidt.
The representative of the association “ReSTART BiH” Suad Đozić pointed out that the protests were purposefully held in front of the three most influential institutions and countries in BiH.
He pointed out that “ReStart BiH” has several solutions for the complex political situation in our country.
“One of the solutions is to return to the constitution of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the second solution is municipalization, while we are still not ready to reveal the third solution. We want the 14 priorities for joining the EU to finally begin to be fulfilled, and not to be hindered in progress by new ethnic divisions and a complicated system with constant blockages,” said Đozić.
They state that the reason for organizing the protest is the expression of citizens’ views on potential solutions for the electoral system of BiH.
“Since our protests (26 of them) were mostly reactionary, this time we decided to offer concrete solutions when we already have a situation where the high representative demolished the Dayton principles, i.e. the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina! Now that they have unpacked Dayton, those who decide on our country , it would be their turn to receive the citizens and offer us answers for what they have done so far, and we will give them several solutions so that the state can function normally,” said Suad Đozić, one of the organizers.
They particularly emphasize their proposals to the international community, among which are the return to the Constitution of the RBiH and the abolition of cantons and entities. But it is clear that in this political moment these demands are unrealistic. They also state that they have another, third solution, which they will reveal at the protests.
“Our desire is to reach a situation where we can finally start fulfilling the 14 priorities for joining the EU, and not be hindered by new ethnic divisions and a complicated system with constant blockades. The first solution we will offer is a return to the original Constitution of RBiH. The second solution is the proposal of our Azra Zornić – Municipalization (transfer of power to municipalities). State regulation with two levels – state and municipality. We are preparing to unveil the third solution on May 9 (today),” said Đozić.
In advance, they also sent letters of intent to the EU Delegation, the American Embassy, and the OHR, so that high-ranking officials would plan to receive them on May 9 for an interview.