Half of the pre-election campaign has passed and nothing has been gained from it. It is completely uninformative, unenergetic, and uncreative, and therefore it is difficult to expect that it will significantly influence the citizens in the dilemma of whether and for whom to vote.
This campaign, like the previous ones, was marked by mutual gaffes, and controversial statements. The candidate of the opposition parties for the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Denis Becirovic (SDP), is among those who often call out others – specifically, the rival candidate from the SDA, Bakir Izetbegovic. This is the case, even though Becirovic announced that he will not be the one to call others names.
Izetbegovic is in the group of candidates who lead the way in terms of statements that, as a rule, cause a lot of reactions from the public. Among other things, his promises about a better life and his statement before the start of the campaign about “counting Bosniaks” are debatable and have caused a number of reactions, even from some embassies. Izetbegovic’s statement about robots was not made during the official campaign but was made earlier in order to get votes.
Do Izetbegovic and others, whose statements are disputed, recklessly make such statements, or do they do it deliberately in order to be in the center of public attention, even in a not-so-good way due to the impossibility and/or ignorance of being the center of attention for something concrete.
The candidate of the parties gathered around the Croatian National Assembly (HNS) for the member of the Presidency from among the Croatian people, Borjana Kristo (HDZ), and her opponent from the DF, Zeljko Komsic, are campaigning as if they are not aspiring to the same state function. Komsic is campaigning on established themes that propagate the ideas he advocated earlier about the creation of a civil state and the story of the HDZ’s disastrous policy.
On the other hand, Kristo is leading a rather silent campaign limited to only one topic, namely the threat of Croats and their legitimate representation. Dragan Covic opened the space for her, who completely backed away from the activities of the HNS.
The campaign of a candidate for a member of the Presidency from among the Serbian people is based on the discrediting of the opposing candidate.
Those who try to use positive discourse to mobilize citizens to vote to do so in the wrong way, because the impression is that they do not succeed. The concepts of party campaigns are almost completely devoid of ideas and substance. It is not noticeable that anyone has done and offered something fundamentally different, but positive, which could at least influence people to consider whether to vote for a certain candidate and/or party. Populism, which includes stage and musical performances, is not something different, better.
It is clearly noticeable that the campaign is unenergetic, which was not the case during previous campaigns. The reason for this is that they are led by politically tired and fed-up individuals. Even the gatherings are no longer mass, which is a consequence of the fact that they have become meaningless and that the citizens are disappointed with those who ask them to vote.
Judging by the campaign so far, it is hard to expect that anything will change for the better in its second half. Those who have decided to vote have probably also decided who they will vote for. It is to be expected that a large number will not vote, and previously it was half of the total number of those who have the right to vote, Klix.ba reports.
E.Dz.
