Čović shaken by Schmidt's statement: Fierce attack on the High Representative in BiH!

(Patria) - The Croatian Student Political Science Forum (HSPF) most strongly condemns the shameful statement by Christian Schmidt, who joined pro-Bosniak parties in undermining electoral reform, denying the rule of law, and destroying the Constitution of BiH and the very core of the Dayton Peace Agreement.

After such reactions, it is clear that Schmidt's message that there will be elections regardless of whether there is a new law or not has shaken Dragan Čović's position, so he has mobilized all forces that have fiercely attacked the High Representative.

"Schmidt is misleading the public in his latest statement and relativizing the importance of amending the Election Law by saying that BiH already has a valid Election Law according to which elections can be held. This is a blatant lie, a shameful denial of the rule of law, and a gross disrespect for the institution of the Constitutional Court of BiH.

We remind Schmidt that the Constitutional Court of BiH, in case U-23/14, i.e., in the Ljubić case, established that the then-Election Law was not in accordance with the Constitution of BiH. More precisely, certain provisions of the Election Law were contrary to Article I/2 of the Constitution, which states that BiH is a free and democratic country functioning on the basis of free and democratic elections. In addition, the disputed provisions violated the fundamental principle of the BiH Constitution - the constituent nature of peoples.

Subsequently, the Constitutional Court of BiH, the only competent interpreter of the BiH Constitution, deleted the unconstitutional provisions. Therefore, there is currently a gap in the Election Law that must be filled with new provisions that will be in accordance with the Constitution, and thus with the Dayton Peace Agreement. Without fulfilling this legal obligation, the Constitutional Court of BiH has clearly indicated that the elections cannot be democratic.

We emphasize that anti-Dayton, anti-constitutional, and anti-democratic elections should be unacceptable to everyone. However, it is known that pro-Bosniak parties persistently insist on precisely such elections because only with such a discriminatory framework can they exercise majority, Bosniak hegemony.

We assume that Schmidt is guided by petty, careerist motives for his own resume, which he does not want to "stain" with the potential non-holding of elections in BiH. However, precisely because of this, Schmidt should advocate for the rule of law to be respected, the Decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH to be implemented, and, accordingly, the Election Law to finally be harmonized with the Constitution.

Instead, Schmidt, significantly, at the time of negotiations in Neum, decided to assist pro-Bosniak parties in buying time and maintaining the status quo, i.e., undermining electoral reform. This is a direct approval of their destructive, anti-Dayton actions and support for majority hegemony, which is fatal for multinational communities, as history has recently shown in this region. Unfortunately, instead of an honest and impartial mediator, BiH has received another immature exponent of Greater Bosniak nationalism who will be co-responsible for its downfall.

Therefore, we ask Schmidt not to invoke the rule of law, fair elections, the Dayton Peace Agreement, and democracy in general anymore. It is precisely Schmidt who denies, disrespects, and destroys all of the above, it was announced.