Čović with Plenković ahead of negotiations with SDA on BiH Election Law

SARAJEVO, (Patria) – Negotiations between SDA and HDZ BiH on amendments to the BiH Election Law should begin in the middle of next week, with the deadline for agreement being the second half of December, as stipulated by the agreement signed by these two parties on June 17 regarding the holding of elections in Mostar.

HDZ BiH President Dragan Čović announced that they will first reach an agreement with SDA, and in the following year, they will involve parliamentary parties. Čović confirmed that a few days ago he spoke with the presidents of SBB Fahrudin Radončić and SNSD Milorad Dodik to create a plan for the next three months.

“The meeting on September 16 will define many things in our agenda concerning the SDA-HDZ relationship,” Čović said.

Čović's stance on the non-functioning of the coalition and his resentment towards SDA for involving the Democratic Front of Željko Komšić in the government is well-known.

Čović reiterated that if an agreement is reached on the model of the Election Law, as well as other open issues (appointments, division of positions), then the new FBiH Government can be appointed, which is currently being blocked by HDZ BiH. SDA has repeatedly and in vain invited HDZ and Čović to propose the President of FBiH so that the appointment of the FBiH Government can proceed. The government of Fadil Novalić is already missing two ministers of education and veterans' affairs, and some ministers are also performing other functions, such as deputies in the State Parliament or delegates in the House of Peoples or deputies in cantonal assemblies.

Although the stance of the international community was also clear that the process of forming the FBiH Government should not be tied to negotiations on the Election Law, Čović has no intention of backing down.

Just before the start of negotiations with SDA, Čović will meet with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, from whom he expects full support for the demands he will present to SDA.

The Democratic Front is not a direct participant in these negotiations, but SDA will certainly consult with its coalition partner. The Democratic Front commented on the amendments to the Election Law on August 19.

"It is known to everyone that HDZ's demands for amending the Election Law are in complete opposition to the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in several cases, that they are in complete opposition to the European legal acquis and European standards and principles. By supporting Čović, Plenković opposes the fundamental postulates of the European Union, of which the Republic of Croatia is a member. Just as such endeavors have not yielded results in previous years, and precisely because of them, Dragan Čović suffered a painful and deserved defeat in the elections for the BiH Presidency member, they will not yield results in the future either.
The amendments to the BiH Election Law will not be decided by Plenković, but by the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina through their political representatives," it was stated.

The Democratic Front has submitted a Proposal for Amendments to the Election Law and Constitution of BiH to the parliamentary procedure, which is fully in line with the European Commission's Opinion.

"Precisely because of this, the DF's proposal has the full support of all pro-Bosnian parties as well as the international community. We invite the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia to study the DF's proposal in detail, so that he can become acquainted with the way of amending the Election Law based on European legal principles, especially because we know that HDZ's efforts in the European Parliament have suffered a complete debacle in this regard," they concluded.