Čović's pawn Mario Karamatić and the Troika's mice

Written by: Delvin Kovač

Čović's pawn Mario Karamatić yesterday played the role of an overly experienced cat for the bewildered mice of the Troika, who, following the pattern "every man for himself, my dears," scattered headlong into holes. Now, imagine what trouble the Troika members would find themselves in if, at the federal level, they also had to contend with Milorad Dodik. They probably wouldn't have enough holes to hide in properly.

The Troika's condescension towards Milorad Dodik and his secessionist appetites has unfortunately become almost a daily occurrence for us, but also the greatest threat to the survival of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The leader from Laktaši only needs to wish for something, and his golden fish embodied in the SDP, NiP, and Our Party will immediately grant it. Dodik knows well that they won't object to anything, not even when he swears about genocide. I suppose that's called democracy from the Troika's perspective. Dodik counts on them delivering his next wish: the position of state minister of finance. And after that, who knows...

And their coalition partner from the so-called Croatian corps, Dragan Čović, got everything he wished for. Admittedly, so far he has only managed to install his man Marin Vukoja in the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. And it seems that the BiH Election Law is on the horizon, exactly the kind that would allow Čović to cement the cadres of his HDZ into the foundations of the collective head of state forever.

The Troika will not oppose either Dodik or Čović, no matter what they demand. They will just nod approvingly, all in order to survive as their servile coalition partners. For the Troika members, it's a real blessing that Dodik's SNSD does not sit in the Federal Parliament, because they would have to bury their heads in the sand and swallow frogs for him too. What would it look like if among the federal parliamentarians we had a Sanja Vulić, for whom Dodik is God, a three-finger raiser Nenad Nešić, Milorad Kojić...?

That would be too much even for the already overly complicated political system in Bosnia and Herzegovina. But the radical Mario Karamatić is quite enough, and his followers from the Troika, at least that's the impression gained by all those who spent yesterday following the day-long session of the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament, would unconditionally forgive him for whatever he uttered.

Karamatić has had various absurdities even as a state parliamentarian in previous years, but last night he made a real effort to once again offend all normal people in this country with his Ustasha narrative, especially the citizens of Sarajevo, for whom he indirectly claimed that it is still "occupied," read enemy territory. Karamatić would rather adjourn the session and watch his Zrinjski than adopt laws important for citizens. But to his and the sorrow of all those who love Bosnian-Herzegovinian football, the champion of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zrinjski, suffered a defeat in Mostar last night.

Karamatić was certainly disappointed that, due to attending the session, he couldn't even watch the match from "occupied Sarajevo." Although we have no doubt that he cast a glance or two at the game on his mobile phone, even if just following the live results. Perhaps Karamatić is even more disappointed by his team's poor performance.

And if he doesn't watch his language a bit, he could soon be even more disappointed. Because, besides not having the opportunity to watch Zrinjski from "free territory" last night, if he continues with insults towards the residents of the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, he could earn the unenviable epithet of persona non grata. Initiatives for such a thing have already emerged. In that case, he would no longer have the chance to set foot on "occupied territory," but would be forced to attend sessions of the House of Representatives online - from "free territory."

Of course, all of this would depend on the Troika and their calculations - whether it's smarter to take care of their own political future or to continue pleasing Čović at any cost.

The Troika's parliamentarians last night at the session missed the opportunity to defend those who elected them and to clearly and loudly distance themselves from Karamatić's vile statements, which he even dared to repeat several times. Perhaps it might suddenly dawn on them that they have more to gain from their own electorate than from servility and flattery towards Dragan Čović. By possibly voting for the status of an undesirable person for Mario Karamatić in the area of Sarajevo Canton, they could ingratiate themselves to some extent and clearly show that he and his ilk have no place in a multicultural environment such as the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina.