Dunović: The place for all agreements on the Election Law must be the BiH Parliament

SARAJevo, (Patria) - Milan Dunović, Vice President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Vice President of the Democratic Front, in an interview with N1, emphasized his disappointment with the approach of the international community, which believes that "political parties must reach an agreement" on fundamental issues, which he characterized as a completely wrong approach. However, he also commented on the actions of certain parties, which he accused of "wanting to accustom citizens to the absence of elections," and then on the current event - the unveiling of a memorial at Kazani, where he briefly added that the text on the City Hall should also be changed.

Yesterday, Dunović had a clash of statements with some high-ranking officials of the HDZ BiH. The reason was different understandings of the amendments to the BiH Election Law. On this occasion, we asked if a common ground could be found in BiH in this regard.

“At the level of political parties, it is clear that there is no common ground. Both we in BiH and the international community often think that political parties should agree on this – that is a completely wrong approach. The place for all agreements regarding the amendments to the BiH Election Law must be the BiH Parliament”, answers Dunović.

However, he also emphasizes that the blockade of institutions is clearly deliberate and targeted.

“One of the goals of the blockade is precisely the discussion around the amendments to the BiH Election Law. The blockade and its amendments are so often intertwined that citizens themselves wonder which topic is more important – both topics should be resolved in institutions, and often representatives of the international community agree with the way of thinking that if the representatives of the three national parties agree, it will be a solution acceptable to everyone”, states the member of the Democratic Front.

However, it is interesting that at one point, the new High Representative seemed to side with the views of the HDZ BiH. Our interlocutor points out that this was also a surprise to him.

“I still cannot assess whether, regarding some of his statements, it is still the initial phase of performing his duties or if something else is involved. I hope that his statements were due to a slight dose of misinformation, because if that is the case, then it can be resolved in the coming period. If not, then we ask the international community what the goal is if they reduce us to three national parties?”, wonders Dunnović.

Everyone is used to satisfying foreign interests, he adds, and emphasizes that citizens must finally be satisfied.

“The problem is that the international community has agreed to the methods promoted by national parties, for reasons known only to them. We hear that from neighboring countries, there is increasingly talk of 'reconciliation of peoples' - Vučić has said countless times that the reconciliation of Bosniaks and Serbs is necessary. I believe that Bosniaks and Serbs are not quarreling. There are no quarrels between peoples – what we need is mutual respect and reconciliation between the two countries – BiH and Serbia”, concluded our guest.

When asked how the Democratic Front sees a way out of this situation, especially considering the mention of transferring competencies from the state to the RS level, Dunović emphasizes the stance that Dodik, especially due to the opposition in RS, can no longer turn back.

“Dodik has reached a point where he can no longer turn back. If he continues forward – he is seriously walking the path of a coup d'état. I believe that a coup d'état has, to a certain extent, already been committed by adopting two laws in the NSRS, which derogate from BiH's competencies”, emphasized Dunović.

On the FBiH Government: “Certain parties want to accustom citizens to the absence of elections”

The FBiH Government has been in a technical mandate for three years, and the results of the 2018 elections have not been implemented, so we asked why the 2022 elections then?

“That is precisely the answer – certain parties want to accustom citizens to not having elections and to make citizens wonder – do we even need to have elections? This is also a general rehearsal before the 2022 elections – they will not implement the results of the 2018 elections for FBiH so that citizens say, well, we don't even need to have elections in 2022”, states the Vice President of FBiH.

On the memorial at Kazani

At the beginning of this week, a memorial was unveiled for those killed at the Kazani site. “We will forever remember our murdered fellow citizens with sadness and respect.” When asked if he is satisfied with the text on the monument, he states that it is very difficult to answer.

“Difficult question – conditionally speaking, I am satisfied. Since the beginning of my mandate, I have advocated for the construction of the monument at Kazani. The options were for the City Council to approve the construction with this text, or for nothing to happen again, as in previous mandates. The text could have been different, but the question also arises whether the monument would ever be built. Mayor Karić is the third mayor of Sarajevo since I've been here, and nothing happened in previous mandates. Did Sarajevo have the strength to name the perpetrators – I think that was not a realistic solution at this moment. When one delves deeper into the analysis, one sees that the story of Kazani is not over. I mean those who were convicted – the trial of one of them for war crimes is still not over. Mayor Karić had the strength to bring this story to an end”, concluded Dunović.

Given that many who believe that the perpetrators of the crime should have been named cite the inscription on the City Hall as an argument, Dunović briefly emphasized: “I believe that the text on the plaque at the City Hall should be different”.