Dodik and Čović: SNSD and HDZ Share the Same Values

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Milorad Dodik, member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and president of the SNSD, said after a meeting with the HDZ delegation in East Sarajevo that Bosnia and Herzegovina has been brought into a hopeless situation thanks to the international community. He reiterated that the leadership of the entity Republika Srpska will not make decisions in BiH institutions. His message is that they will remove foreign judges from the Constitutional Court.

Dodik said that SNSD and HDZ have shared the same values for some time, and that one of the topics of discussion was the Election Law.

"Constituent peoples must be legitimate. We will submit a draft law, as well as a draft law that will eliminate foreign judges from the Constitutional Court and put BiH in a position to govern the Constitutional Court," Dodik said, as reported by N1, Patria reports.

"I informed our friends about the leadership's decision to suspend decision-making in BiH institutions, which means that nothing will be decided until these issues are resolved," Dodik said.

In his opinion, the international community is the biggest culprit for BiH being in the position it is in.

"Because of the international factor, which meddled here, everything they did was to undermine the constituent nature of the peoples and create a BiH of citizens. We saw how Bosniaks approach this. When it comes to Mostar, they are for the rights of peoples, but in BiH, for the rights of citizens. The concept of constituent peoples is civilizational and democratic. Any imposition of forms by foreigners has brought BiH into a hopeless situation. I am convinced that this area will remain peaceful, but that political solutions should be given a chance, not through the interventionism of the international community. It has power, but it will have to explain why all this time it has been supporting the Bosniak concept of BiH and the creation of a unitary BiH," Dodik stated.

Dodik said he believes that the political positions of HDZ and SNSD are correct, and that the international community, with its solutions, "patched up some things that later caused problems."

"We demand that these parties seek a new agreement in BiH with third-party partners, without the interference of the international community. That is the way we can move forward. What we are doing is not directed against the Bosniak people. The interest of the Bosniak people would be to embrace Serbs and Croats for BiH, not to make Serbs and Croats dissatisfied by imposing solutions. Bosniaks, as they like to say, are the largest people. Of course, they invented that they are the majority. As such, they should take care of the position of Croats and Serbs," Dodik said.

Answering journalists' questions, Dodik said that the opposition created the stance on not making decisions in BiH institutions.

"The opposition literally created this stance; we had a broader approach, but the opposition said they were ready to join us around the Constitutional Court. This is more their solution than ours," he said.

"Don't create a story about how we make decisions; there was no word against any Bosniak or Bosniak policy here. Don't interrupt me. Today, Mr. Špirić and Čović spoke with Izetbegović within their capacities," Dodik said in response to journalists' questions.

"I answered you that there is a dialogue, that Mr. Čović continuously talks with the SDA, that we also had meetings about it, that talks are being held with the SDA. This was our meeting within the leadership; if the SDA thinks it should attend, I agree," he said.

"Now we have formed a government to remove the judges. Now we are in power and we are here, and now we will remove the judges, and you will have nothing until the judges are removed. Laugh at that if you want," was Milorad Dodik's message.

His message is that BiH must decide which direction to take, and that SNSD and HDZ are ready for dialogue - but if current practices continue, then it will not be possible.

"For me, the foundation is our Constitution, Dayton, legitimacy, consensus on all issues when we go abroad. It is known how each issue functions and how it is agreed upon, not individually as each one wishes," Dragan Čović said after today's meeting with Milorad Dodik.

He emphasized that he believes more meetings like today's will follow in the future.

"I think there will be more such meetings in the time ahead. I wanted to familiarize myself with the decisions made by the representatives of the Serbian people in BiH. It seems to me that we are in a difficult problem regarding the functioning of all institutions in BiH. This has distanced us from all integration ambitions in the last year and a half. I informed Dodik about what we are doing to resolve the issue of electoral legislation, how to organize elections in Mostar," he said and added:

"Generally, on these matters, we have agreement and have had it so far. Next week, I will sit down with Radončić and Izetbegović as a partner, to see if these partnerships yield results or not, and how to proceed further on everything."

Čović emphasized that for him, the basis of all decision-making is "the constitution, Dayton, and legitimacy."

"The crisis has eroded some other pores; most likely, this will be what Mr. Dodik said, and I have said earlier what I think about processes involving international representatives."

Answering journalists' questions, he said that the HDZ BiH, together with the SNSD, spoke several years ago about how to resolve the issue of the Election Law.

"HDZ, I think together with SNSD, said 4-5 years ago that we would establish a team of experts to draft a law defining the work of the Constitutional Court. I think that is one of the issues that should have been resolved long ago."

"How can you be satisfied if you don't have your own representatives? How can you be satisfied if two Bosniak members of the Presidency were elected by Bosniak votes? It is up to us, in accordance with the Constitution and our capacity with partners, to seek a solution to eliminate that. For me, legitimacy and consensus are key; that is the beginning and end of BiH's constitutional stability," Dragan Čović said.