Coup d'état orchestrated by Dragan Čović

HDZ leader Dragan Čović has been blocking the entire country with his maximalist demands since the beginning of the negotiations on amendments to the Election Law of BiH. Čović made it clear to everyone from the start of the negotiations that the Election Law will be as he wants it, or it will not be amended at all.

Numerous opposition representatives and independent intellectuals have warned about Dragan Čović's dangerous intentions. They warned that Dragan Čović is ready to go all the way, even to provoking some kind of conflict to achieve his goal. Those who warned about Čović's dangerous intentions were characterized as Bosniak nationalists and war-mongers.
It was only a matter of time before Čović showed everyone that he was serious in his endeavors.

Just three days after he publicly mentioned that he had some kind of Plan B, the public learned what that plan really means in practice in the case of migrants.

Illegally elected police commissioner of HNK MUP, Ilija Lasić, a member of Čović's party, opposed the decisions of state authorities and stopped a convoy with refugees on its way from Sarajevo to Mostar. In this way, the HDZ leadership directly communicated that they do not recognize the state's decisions. To be precise and not to lie to ourselves: a coup d'état has been carried out in one part of BiH's territory.

This was just the last straw, but it is not the first time that the HDZ's attitude towards BiH has been seen in action. It is worth recalling some past events.

When in 2009, before the match between Široki Brijeg and Sarajevo, Sarajevo fan Vedran Puljić was killed in front of the stadium in Široki, his killer left the police station in this Herzegovinian town that same evening as if leaving a cafe and fled to Croatia. No one in the police was ever held accountable for such negligence.

HDZ won the mayoralty in Stolac in the last local elections by bringing in voters from Metković by bus, and when Bosniak election observers protested the irregularities, some of them were charged with criminal offenses. The Cantonal Court in Mostar sentenced Salko Baljić, Adnan Bučuk, and Emin Zećo to prison sentences for disrupting the election process.

The last elections in Mostar were held ten years ago, and since then, HDZ mayor Ljubo Bešlić has ruled the city. All discussions about amending the city Statute have been blocked by the HDZ, as it is simply not in their interest for anything to change as long as they have absolute control in the city.

Police commissioner Ilija Lasić was illegally elected three years ago, as ruled by the Cantonal Court, but he still holds this position. For a full 15 years, the implementation of the Constitutional Court's decision, which requires Serbs to be recognized as a constituent people in HNK, has been awaited, but the HDZ has blocked the amendment of the Statute in the cantonal Assembly every time.

The HDZ has long established a kind of entity in Herzegovina where it has almost absolute power. Čović still needs only an electoral unit through which he would have a guaranteed position as a member of the BiH Presidency to reach his ultimate goal.

The blockade of the convoy with refugees entering HNK must be a clear message to state institutions and the international community about who they are dealing with. Someone must be held accountable for causing a coup d'état, because this is a red line.

If Čović is let off the hook again, a passport might be needed to enter HNK after the October elections.

---

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Haris Ljevo is a journalist and commentator for the news agency Patria portal