DF Responds to Karamatić: Filing a Report Against Matanović Was Used for Your Self-Promotion

Mario Karamatić, delegate in the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, announced and stated that he personally, on behalf of HSS, filed a criminal complaint against Slavko Matanović, former Minister of Transport and Communications in the Council of Ministers, to which the Democratic Front has also responded, reports the BiH news agency Patria.

- We will not comment on the report itself, as we do not know its content, and besides, every citizen of BiH can file a criminal complaint against anyone, no matter how founded or unfounded such a report may be. Appointed officials are subject to public scrutiny and review of their work, so there is no need to elaborate further on this.

Regarding the manner in which this was done, it should be said that Mr. Karamatić attempted to use the act of filing the report for his personal promotion as much as possible through the media. Known for his unprecedented gaffes in media appearances, a delegate in the House of Peoples who shocked the BiH public by stating live on television that "he has no intention of paying the RTV subscription fee," Mr. Mario Karamatić truly needs to divert public attention from his media failures and try to improve his image by discrediting someone else.

He targeted the former Minister of Communications and Transport, Mr. Slavko Matanović, criticizing almost every key decision he made during his term, decisions that were recognized by all relevant political factors, both domestic and foreign, as solutions and ways to overcome long-standing stagnation and seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
Mr. Karamatić also criticized the adoption of the Transport Framework Policy after eight years of unsuccessful attempts by previous ministers, which opened up access to European funds for the construction of bridges over the Sava River near Svilaj and Gradiška. He also criticized the final resolution of the tender for the selection of the management of the Air Navigation Services Agency. After six years of stagnation, he also criticized the solution to the deadlock in digitalization, which is widely known as a notorious, great success of the minister during his short but effective term.

However, Mr. Karamatić's criticisms are an exception that proves the rule, which is that the minister performed his job well, as has been heard several times in public and in the BiH Parliament.

We regret that in this text we had to deal with a person who, in our opinion, does not deserve particular attention. A controversial figure who has repeatedly, both in the House of Peoples itself and in public appearances, insulted former Minister Matanović and the Democratic Front with inappropriate words and actions, far below the standards of political conduct and good manners. He is probably unaware that by doing so, he is only increasing the value of the Democratic Front and the former minister, while he himself is sinking deeper into the mire of his own media unpopularity.

The Democratic Front firmly holds the position that the accumulated problems in public services will not be resolved by introducing a new channel, which is the latest proposal from the ministry without a minister (!). The Democratic Front's policy towards public services is best illustrated by the proposal of former Minister Matanović to help public services service their debt to the European Broadcasting Union, and to find a way for stable financing of public services as soon as possible, in a way that all citizens, including all Karamatićs, pay the RTV fee.