The leadership of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been elected, but there is no agreement on who will be the president and who will be the vice presidents. One of them, Refik Lendo (SDA), requested that first the HDZ, SDA and SDP agree on the prime minister and only then the president of the entity. Nikšić commented on it and rejected the proposal.
The proposal of the Club of Bosniaks from the SDA was Refik Lendo, and it was already known about him that he would not agree to the agreements made by the new majority on the FBiH Government – Osmorka and HDZ. After being elected to the leadership, Lendo decided not to agree with the remaining members of the FBiH leadership on who will be the president until the party leaders agree on who will be the prime minister.
Nikšić sees this as an obvious obstruction, which he claims was announced by the SDA. He points out that the SDA is turning to the idea of legitimate representation because they lost power.
“Unfortunately, the obstruction was expected. Bakir Izetbegović announced from the beginning that he would block the establishment of government if the SDA is not part of the majority. This act blocks the will of the parliamentary majority, which was established with the sole explanation that it was due to the loss of power and alleged ethnic legitimacy. promoted to the main proponent of the idea of legitimate ethnic representation,” he stated.
Speaking about the fact that the SDA has a majority in the Bosniak Club of the House of Peoples of the FBiH, which they need to be inevitable during the formation of the government, Nikšić insinuates that they gathered this majority in an illegal and corrupt manner.
“Of course, when they refer to the legitimate majority in the Bosniak Club, it is good to remember that the SDA reached the control package of 13 hands with packages of a different kind, with which it won some representatives who were normally elected from opposition parties precisely on the platform of criticism of the SDA. Regardless of that, it is completely clear that the numbers are on our side in any case, both in terms of the number of votes and the number of mandates. We are not counting blood cells, it is a game in which the SDA is now clearly trying to surpass all other parties with an ethnic sign. We , in the SDP, we believe in parliamentary democracy,” he said.
According to the laws, it is necessary for the FBiH House of Representatives to choose who will be the president and who will be the vice-presidents by a majority of votes, if they cannot agree among themselves. However, the laws and rules of procedure are not specified beyond that, so it is not explained what the deadline is. Nikšić points out to Lendo exactly the legal obligation of the House of Representatives to elect the president of the FBiH, despite his wishes to elect the prime minister first.
“If a member of the FBiH leadership from the SDA wants to block the establishment of government, it must be clear to him that, as in any democratic system, the president of the entity will be elected by the will of the majority. Refik Lendo is clearly not informed that there is a clearly expressed parliamentary majority in both chambers, and that regardless with the support of the SDA and its partners, he could not be elected to the leadership of the Federation without the support of that majority. Coalitions are a matter for parliamentary parties, and the majority has already been formed in that regard,” said Nikšić.
He points out that he does not expect anything to change when it comes to blocking the formation of the FBiH Government in the coming days, especially when it comes to the agreement for the prime minister. He points out that then the high representative will be the only one with the unblocking tool.
At the end, he refers to the letter that Refik Lendo sent to the presidents of the parties SDA, SDP and HDZ, which refers to the fact that they should sit down and agree on a prime minister. Nikšić replied that the SDP will not participate in anything other than the election of the new prime minister and the FBiH Government based on the wishes of the parliamentary majority.
“His letter is another smokescreen and the SDA’s pre-planned step of procrastinating and diverting attention from the fact that the FBiH leadership is not establishing a majority but confirming that it exists. Lendo should talk to Mrs. Bradara and Mr. Stojanović and complete the obligation to appoint the FBiH president, and after the attached signatures of the parliamentary majority and the procedural part of the obligation to confirm legality and parliamentary support for the new prime minister and the Government of FBiH. Everything else is a show in which the SDP and its partners will not participate,” concluded Nermin Nikšić, Klix.ba reports.
E.Dz.
