Bećirović: The story of BiH's survival is over, now we move forward

Independence Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina, March 1st, is met with different sentiments. While this holiday is celebrated in the Federation of BiH, it is still not accepted as a holiday in RS. There are also different opinions among the deputies in the BiH Parliament regarding the celebration of March 1st. Denis Bećirović (SDP), Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament, clearly stated that according to the BiH Constitution, March 1st and November 25th are state holidays celebrated throughout BiH, and there is no doubt about that.

- As long as we do not pass a new law on BiH holidays in the parliamentary procedure, it is the duty of everyone throughout the territory of BiH to respect these two dates, i.e., these two state holidays. I think there is reason for all citizens and peoples of BiH to be proud of March 1st, 1992. BiH rightfully marks this date as Independence Day, because then more than 64 percent of citizens opted to live in a state of equal peoples, in a state that subsequently, on May 22nd, formally became a member of the UN organization – says Bećirović.

He further noted that looking back from this distance, we can now say that without that March 1st, there would be no independence, and thus no state of BiH.

- The story of BiH's survival is over. Now the second half remains to see how we can best arrange relations within BiH, so that it truly becomes a state of equal citizens and peoples, and so that we create better economic conditions for all citizens – added Bećirović.

On the other hand, his colleague Božo Ljubić (HDZ 1990) believes that celebrating March 1st as a holiday at this moment is not productive because it evokes different connotations among the members of the three constituent peoples.

- I think everyone should be allowed to accept and celebrate it as they personally experience it. However, it should not be imposed as a mandatory holiday throughout the country, because it is accepted differently, and the last thing we need at this moment is for one day from our history to be a reason for conflict in this country – said Ljubić, adding that Croats in the largest numbers participated in the referendum in 1992 and voted for independence.