Is the House of Peoples of FBiH a testing ground for subversive actions of the ethno-trio SDA, HDZ, and SNSD?

By: Rasim Belko

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The state and institutions have been dismantled by the HDZ. Isn't this a very familiar sentence to all of us in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Because we have been well convinced of all the dismantling capabilities of the Croatian Democratic Union.

However, the introductory sentence is directed at the HDZ in Croatia. The one led by Andrej Plenković. The message was written by SDP member Mirela Ahmetović.

And any Bosnian and Herzegovinian could have written it. The Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina is strongest when it enters political tenders for the dismantling of Bosnia and Herzegovina's parliamentarism.

That is why, from the lowest to the state level, all parliamentary processes are blocked where the HDZ decides and has a say. We will skip the cantons this time.

The House of Peoples of the FBiH Parliament is one of the key institutions for the passage of laws and important decisions. But, with the dismantlers from Dragan Čović's camp, this institution often falters and pushes the Federation backward, persistently driving its wheels downhill.

Anyone who superficially follows parliamentary work in the larger BiH entity will easily understand that the House of Peoples of the FBiH operates as if it were in a technical mandate, and it is only halfway through its term.

Thus, from March 21st to today, this house has "managed" to hold only eight regular sessions, which is devastating even by our standards. And to make it even more devastating, old partners from the ethnic clubs of Bosniaks and Croats, with a light seasoning from the Serb Club, often ensure it. Thus, SDA, HDZ, and SNSD have turned the House of Peoples into a space for manipulation, blackmail, and inaction.

Eight regular sessions in almost two years best prove, without detection, that the HDZ and SDA have repeatedly lied to their voters. Because if they had spoken even a shred of truth, they would have strived to ensure full passage of all legal solutions in the House of Peoples that would pave the way for a better future for all of us stuck in the mud of ethnic parliamentarism.

The Houses of Peoples, both Federal and State, have become a testing ground for the war of coalition partners through subversive, i.e., anti-state actions.

At the end of the last month of last year, the Federation of BiH was supposed to get its budget for this year. And after relatively easy passage in the House of Representatives, everyone expected the same in the House of Peoples.

But, alas. Here come the clubs, their leaders, and the politics of leaders over leaders. Clearly, someone's interests were not satisfied, so they decided to postpone until they align. I remember one occasion when a law on notaries was being decided. Madness in the parliamentary hall, and general chaos in the corridor. 

Amidst the tobacco smoke, some well-trained notaries and even better-trained politicians waged such a verbal war that panic ensued in the vicinity of the Parliament building. The purpose of that, as well as all other discussions, was interests and money.

And there are many such cases. There are even more cases where the Speaker Tomislav Martinović evades scheduling a session or performs some similar tricks and maneuvers during a session when something is not to the liking of his party boss Čović.

The same applies to the Bosniak club, headed by Jasmin Duvnjak. On one occasion, and I remember it well, Duvnjak was running from the hall to the corridor and back. There were calls from the top of the party pyramid, there were endless breaks, and in the end, nothing came of the legal solution.

And so, the false protectors of the state persistently try to show how diligently they are doing anti-state work.

Because how else can one explain that the far more numerous House of Representatives convenes and holds twice as many sessions as the House of Peoples in almost the same period.

Part of the blame certainly lies with Martinović, part with the poor performance last year, but the greatest credit for the House of Peoples of the FBiH becoming a target of ethnic-interest artillery belongs to the holy trinity of SDA, HDZ, and SNSD.

Dismantling is the leitmotif of this story. Perhaps the HDZ will stumble over its own mechanism, thus dismantling the dysfunctional House of Peoples to the point of non-existence. And its godfathers from SDA and HDZ would suffer equally.

Who knows?