While Osmanović claims talks will continue, MPs say they will not be part of the SDA Club

In the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a meeting between the SDA Working Group and four MPs – Šemsudin Mehmedović, Salko Sokolović, Sadik Ahmetović, and Senad Šepić, who left the SDA Club in the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina, has concluded, reports the Bosnian news agency Patria. Mehmedović was the first to leave the meeting but did not wish to give statements.

Adil Osmanović, Deputy President of the SDA and a member of the Working Group, gave a statement to journalists, saying that talks will continue tomorrow. When asked whether an extraordinary Congress would be held, Osmanović replied that it would not happen.

Besides Osmanović, the Working Group also includes SDA Vice Presidents Denis Zvizdić, Asim Sarajlić, and Safet Softić.

The four MPs (the Group for Reform and Democratization of the SDA) issued a statement in which they claim that the meeting was not actually held because a prior agreement was not respected, namely that "Izetbegović should remove the bodies and officials of the SDA responsible for the theft and rigging of the Congress held in May last year."

- We remind the public that Izetbegović publicly gave his word that he would enter into a process of democratization of the SDA, sanction the theft of votes and the rigging of weak and obedient cadres at the 6th Congress, ensure through the Statute a democratic election within the SDA for presidents at all levels, from municipal to state, based on the principle of one member-one vote, ensure transparency of the electoral process and equal opportunities for all candidates who will have the statutory possibility of election, and introduce the principle of responsibility for the election result in such a way that those who lose in the elections must resign - the statement reads.

The four MPs further state that this is a struggle for principles and policy, not for positions within the SDA.

- We do not agree to abandon our principles in exchange for guarantees on the lists for the 2018 elections, as Izetbegović offers us through the media. Without a complete change in policy, priorities, and some people at the top of the SDA, it is illusory to expect that we will be candidates on the SDA lists in the upcoming elections - the statement says.

Furthermore, the position that it is necessary to organize extraordinary elections and conventions so that the membership can choose the best representatives was reiterated.

- Until further notice, we will not be part of the SDA Club in the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and we will conduct our activities in that direction - the MPs stated.