The “Troika” parties (NiP, SDP and Our Party) have called for Monday, January 29, in Sarajevo, a meeting of representatives of all parliamentary political parties at the state level to discuss amendments to the BiH Constitution. HDZ BiH and SNSD confirmed that they will attend the meeting that will be held in the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, even though they doubt the possibility of reaching any agreement that would lead to changes to the Constitution. The invitation was rejected by SDA, SDS, DF, NESS and the Party for BiH.
For the “Troika” parties, within the framework of amendments to the Election Law, the most important thing is the implementation of judgments of international courts, which is impossible, claims NIP president Elmedin Konaković, without amending the Constitution. He says that he is not surprised by the cancellations of numerous parties or the problematization of the meeting by Milorad Dodik. He adds that at one time, during the negotiations on constitutional reforms, all parties from the RS agreed to delete the ethnic prefix during the election of members of the Presidency.
ELMEDIN KONAKOVIĆ, president of NIP:
“I was in meetings with Dodik and Borenović and then Šarović and several other actors were ready for this type of change and that is a good thing. Let them come, let them repeat their views or let them say some possibly other new views if they have changed their opinion”.
The partners of the “Troika” at the state level, HDZ BiH and SNSD, say that they will attend the meeting, but also that they consider that any amendment to the Constitution is a mission impossible at this moment. The president of our party, Predrag Kojović, thinks the same.
DRAGAN ČOVIĆ, president of HDZ BiH
“I am afraid that it will be difficult for us to change even a comma in the Constitution that we have today because of the relations that we have today on the political scene. And you can see those relations as you told the opposition, how they related to this request”.
MILORAD DODIK, president of SNSD
“Always, for changes to the Constitution in a country, there needs to be a good atmosphere and an already recognized dominant majority needed for changes to the Constitution. Neither exists in BiH for such a thing”.
PREDRAG KOJOVIĆ, president of our party
“To come up with a joint proposal that will go before the Parliament. And now this post follow-up invitation where you now have something to propose and invite others to join, from my experience, such things have no chance of success”.
The invitation to the meeting was rejected by almost all parties that are not part of the coalition at the state level. SDS leader Milan Miličević points out that this party does not want to participate in the staged games of the ruling majority. They think the same in the DF, from which they say that the whole story about the changes to the Election Law is to please the HDZ. The Party for BiH, NES and SDA confirmed that they will not attend the meeting, except SDS and DF.
NERMIN OGREŠEVIĆ, president of NES
“Apparently, the leaders of the Troika parties remembered late that there is also a constitutional obligation to implement the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, so now by convening a “general political meeting” they want to pull themselves out of the political mire they have already deeply immersed themselves in”.
What is certain at this moment is that the delegations of the “Troika”, HDZ BiH and SNSD, that is, the parties that make up the government at the state level, will attend the meeting on Monday. So this meeting will actually be a sort of continuation of the one recently held in Laktaši. The only difference is that this one will be in the state Parliament building, unlike the last one which was on a private property.
The outcome of the meeting can already be guessed, if it is known that the ruling majority does not have two-thirds of the hands in the state parliament, which is required to amend the Constitution, and that not even a part of it is ready for such a thing.
