Begović accepts mandate, continues as an independent councilor

(Patria) - Newly elected councilor in the Municipal Council Novo Sarajevo, Omer Begović, has accepted his mandate, despite announcing in the campaign that he would renounce it.

We are transmitting Begović's statement in its entirety below.

"I learned from the media that an indictment has been confirmed against me because, as the former director of the Public Institution Elementary School 'Grbavica I' in 2018, I allegedly failed to suspend the physical and health education teacher.

Honestly, I was taken aback and the same day I made a hasty and thoughtless statement to the media that I was withdrawing from the election process and would not accept the mandate if elected.

I immediately withdrew from the election campaign and did not participate until its end.

I contacted the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina in writing and received a written response. From the CEC's response, it is clear that I cannot withdraw from the list and that I have no impediments to taking the mandate.

After the publication of the election results, it is clear that, despite a major politically motivated campaign against me, where certain political entities based their campaign on slandering my name, I received considerable support from the citizens of Novo Sarajevo, enough to enter the new convocation of the Municipal Council of Novo Sarajevo.

The voters who placed their trust in me are well aware of my contribution to education in the Sarajevo Canton, as well as in the defense and liberation war of 1992/95 as a member of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

A large number of calls and messages from friends, acquaintances, relatives, as well as all others who knew me, asking me not to give up, gave me additional strength and inspiration to remain persistent in my initiated political engagement.

Considering the above, the response I received from the CEC of BiH, and my conviction that I am innocent, that I will prove my innocence in all competent courts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, because I want to believe in the judicial system and justice, given that I myself fought as a member of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, precisely for truth and justice, when it was hardest.

In this way, I want to inform the public that I will accept the councilor mandate in the representative body of citizens, i.e., the Municipal Council Novo Sarajevo.

I also inform the public that I am leaving the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Club of the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and I will continue my work and activities in the Municipal Council Novo Sarajevo as an independent councilor," stated Begović.