Čaušević for NAP: No "Trojka's" bulldozers and brooms, nor would Radmanović be dismissed without SDA and DF

Interview by Delvin Kovač

The real ruler of the political scene in Bosnia and Herzegovina is HDZ, or Dragan Čović. This has been evident at the federal level for a long time.

At the state level, it was recently SNSD, and now HDZ has taken over that role. It's as if there's a kind of agreement - you had your turn, now we'll continue.

This was stated in an interview for the Patria News Agency (NAP) by SDA MP in the BiH Parliament, Midhat Čaušević.

Where is Bosnia and Herzegovina today on its European path?

Čaušević: When it comes to its European path, Bosnia and Herzegovina is currently in the phase of waiting for a date to open negotiations. We have reached a situation where the European Union has given us an opportunity, but at the same time, it has not given us an exact date to open negotiations.

And for a year now, Bosnia and Herzegovina has done nothing on this issue to get an official date and to move into the next phase, which is the opening of individual chapters and the alignment of BiH legislation, i.e., regulations, with the regulations of the European Union.

In the last year, regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina's European path, there has been general stagnation, or rather, nothing has been done to move to the next step.

The "Trojka" said they would break the coalition with SNSD because they no longer wanted them to follow them on the European path, i.e., the adoption of "European laws". How much has BiH achieved on its European path in the less than two and a half years of the "Trojka", SNSD, and HDZ government?

Čaušević: After these two and a half years in power, the "Trojka" is not credible to even talk about Bosnia and Herzegovina's European path, because its ministers, from the moment they were appointed in January 2023 until today, have not proposed a single "European law".

At the same time, we have had nine laws so far that bore the "EI" (European Integration) designation, and unfortunately, all these laws were proposed by ministers from SNSD and HDZ. When I say unfortunately, I don't mean it's something bad, but I'm saying it in the context of the "Trojka" trying to shift the blame to someone else.

So, the "Trojka" is absolutely not credible, and it is even hypocritical for them to talk about Bosnia and Herzegovina's European path and accuse someone of obstructing that path, while at the same time, none of their ministers, although their work programs include laws with the "EI" designation, have proposed any such law.

Who constitutes the government at the state level today?

Čaušević: Today, the government at the state level is composed of the same actors who constituted it at the time of its establishment in 2023. The "Trojka", SNSD, and HDZ BiH fully constitute the government at the state level, and what is now being presented to the public as if the "Trojka" unilaterally broke the coalition with SNSD, in the manner of "we won't work with you anymore," does not correspond to the facts.

All ministers appointed in 2023 are still in their positions, except for Nenad Nešić, who resigned for known reasons. All agency and institution directors who were subject to distribution, i.e., appointed by the "Trojka" - SNSD - HDZ coalition, are still in those positions.

No decision in the Council of Ministers can still be made without the consensus, i.e., agreement of these three groups. In the House of Peoples, where the "Trojka" does not have much capacity - only one delegate - we see that SNSD and HDZ BiH are functioning completely - even working for mutual benefit. All this talk that there is no government at the state level is incorrect, because the facts speak quite differently.

On the other hand, the president of HDZ, Dragan Čović, has not once in his statements said that there is any parliamentary majority other than the existing one. Moreover, on several occasions, he has emphasized that there is a clear coalition agreement and that it will remain valid until a new one is signed. And a new one will be signed when a new majority in the BiH Parliament is certain.

The "Trojka" announced that they would sweep away all SNSD cadres with a broom. However, given that it is precisely SNSD, together with HDZ, that holds all the strings in the House of Peoples, it seems that nothing will come of it.

Čaušević: Just follow their performance, or rather their way of addressing the public from the very beginning. First, they said - we will not hand over finances to SNSD in the way they want. Then they appointed a Minister of Finance. After that, when it came to the position of director of the Indirect Taxation Authority (UIO) BiH - "no, that's a red line, it's impossible, we won't allow the same political entity, the same way of thinking, to have both the Minister of Finance and the Director of UIO BiH". Then they gave it.

And so on. Everything they said they wouldn't do, in the end, turned out to be the opposite - they did. And this announcement of theirs about sweeping away SNSD cadres with brooms, bulldozers, hurricanes... Well, we see, the only thing that definitely happened is that Mr. Nebojša Radmanović is no longer in his position. He is not in the BiH Parliament Collegium, he was indeed dismissed, and that thanks to the votes of the opposition, primarily I mean the votes of SDA and DF. If we had been against it, that man would not have been dismissed either, and he would still be in the leadership of the BiH Parliament.

BiH still has no Minister of Security. The Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers, Borjana Krišto, is not proposing anyone. The leader of the Party for Justice and Order, Nebojša Vukanović, was very eager for that position at the beginning of this story about the new government, but that enthusiasm waned over time when he realized that Čović holds everything in his hands, who still does not want to distance himself from Dodik.

Čaušević: I think the opposition from RS has realized what game they have been drawn into. And moreover, it looks to me like a well-orchestrated agreement between SNSD and HDZ, where they literally drew the opposition from RS into this state-level story in order to simply relieve the pressure that SNSD had regarding state government, to shift some of the responsibility or some of what is state government to the opposition, and to secure an alibi for themselves for the next elections - that they were protectors of the interests of the RS entity, and that the opposition appeared on the other side - for the state of BiH, i.e., its European path.

In the leadership of the BiH Parliament is an opposition member, Darko Babalj from SDS. The Law on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (VSTV) of BiH passed the BiH Council of Ministers and was supposed to be on the agenda on April 15, but it was removed from the Collegium, precisely at the request of that same opposition from RS.

Because they were clearly told - there are no European laws, nothing essentially important for the state until the issue of whether the opposition from RS will be in power or not is resolved. Which means that it is the same way of thinking, it's just a matter of who will sit in the comfortable chairs at the state level.

All this talk about drawing in the opposition from RS is, in my opinion, a poorly conceived and designed operation, considering that the Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers from HDZ completely controls this process and can delegate a name to the BiH Parliament at any moment, which she has not done for a long time.

And at the same time, in the House of Peoples, two days after the meeting of that "new coalition" of HDZ and the two "Trojkas", we had a Collegium where Nikola Špirić and Dragan Čović outvoted Kemal Ademović for the Election Law to go into urgent procedure, i.e., for a session to be scheduled.

That connection between HDZ and SNSD is very strong. I observe it logically - the Deputy Minister of Security of BiH is from HDZ - therefore, I don't see any exclusive reason why HDZ would be in a hurry to appoint a new minister when they already have a deputy. On the other hand, it has such a strong connection with SNSD that continues and which surely provides it with what is its ultimate goal, and that is the BiH Election Law.

How do you view the behavior of the leader of HDZ BiH, Dragan Čović, who is indispensable in both federal and state government?

Čaušević: The real ruler of the political scene in Bosnia and Herzegovina is HDZ, or Dragan Čović. This has been evident at the federal level for a long time, at the state level it was recently SNSD, and now HDZ has taken over that role. It's as if there's a kind of agreement - you had your turn, now we'll continue.

The stance of HDZ has been generally known for a long time, they have their two or three set goals, they need these to simply satisfy their political and - as they present it - national needs, which are the Election Law and a channel in the Croatian language.

What I want to emphasize and what the public in Bosnia and Herzegovina should appreciate is that in these turbulent and very difficult moments for the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, when its sovereignty and constitutional order are literally being challenged, i.e., when a kind of destruction unseen before is occurring, HDZ has had a clear stance - to preserve peace, integrity, and sovereignty of BiH and respect its institutions. All of this should be highlighted as a positive stance that certainly has its significance in Bosnian-Herzegovinian society at this moment.