Efendić: Laws detrimental to the state will be stopped by the opposition in the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly

(Patria) - President of the Party for BiH Semir Efendić said during his appearance on Dnevnik D FTV that a political war is being waged for control of the public sector, companies, and resources, which are not being managed efficiently at all.

"It seems that the main goal of most political parties has become to secure as many positions as possible in the public sector. Meanwhile, fundamental social problems remain on the sidelines of all these processes," he believes.

He adds that there is general chaos on the political scene.

"We have a situation where some majority has been formed at both the state and federal levels, but none of it, essentially, was agreed upon in time. The government should create a program and have the capacity to implement it. Partners at the state level have no agreement on the most important issues. They managed to agree on the distribution of all or some ministerial positions. Other important burning issues were not agreed upon, which is why we constantly have meetings of party leaders – and they inform us about nothing. Or this irresponsibility at the FBiH level to embark on an adventure with 50 representatives. It is very risky to enter a majority with 50 or 51 votes."

He emphasized that if there is no agreement on some important issues, then respecting the current constitution and laws should not be disputed. Here we have demands to change them, and that is why we have these problems, he said.

"Demands from the Republika Srpska for the abolition of the position of foreign judges in the Constitutional Court of BiH are part of actions from this entity aimed at weakening the state and strengthening the entity. Dodik succeeded in expelling foreign prosecutors from the BiH Prosecutor's Office, and we see how efficiency has decreased. The issue of the Constitutional Court was agreed upon in Dayton. Opening a resolved issue, while we have countless unresolved ones, in itself represents a problematic direction, and it is unlikely to happen," Efendić stated.

This is a waste of time, he adds, and an attempt to achieve the unattainable.

"Strengthening the entity to the extreme, weakening the state to the point of absurdity, which has largely been done. The separatist path of the RS entity, genocide was committed, peace was signed, but the goals continue to be realized even in peacetime. The Constitutional Court is an obstacle here. When it comes to the HDZ, they also encroach on the Constitution with their demands for changes to the Election Law."

Regarding whether the BiH Central Election Commission is politicized, he says that the problem we have concerns the speed of vote counting, which could be solved by introducing scanners into the process.

"The talk about electronic voting worries me greatly, because we would have even fewer valid votes. In the largest countries in the world, this causes problems. The fact that the electoral system in BiH functions is shown by election results, because changes occur. If the political parties that were in power in the previous term really controlled the CEC, as they are accused of, would they have ended up in the opposition?"

He also answered the question of how he views the role of the international community in BiH.

"If they had wanted to help us, this could have become a normal country long ago. A number of politicians behave completely servilely, completely shifting their responsibility to embassies and waiting for instructions. It is a difficult situation when you expect solutions from someone who ultimately is not even affected by it. If there is a sincere intention to help this country from anyone in the international community, then they should only insist on the implementation of the rulings of the court in Strasbourg. As it is, it is all just a playground for games."

He emphasizes that the solution from the beginning was to implement what was signed. "We have continuous negotiations as if they were not concluded in Dayton. It should have been implemented. If we cannot agree on something else, the minimum below which we cannot go is the implementation of what is in force. The current constitution and law are not being applied, and the solution lies in the consistent application of the law. The entire government has turned into a channel through which the plunder of state property management is carried out. From the struggle for control of resources, no one has time to think about the state," he said.

Regarding what kind of political autumn awaits us, he assessed that it has already begun.

"What Dodik and Čović are demanding, I know will not pass. We from the opposition can stop this, specifically in the House of Peoples. Those laws that are detrimental to the state will not pass. They are wasting their time talking about expelling foreign judges from the Constitutional Court, when they cannot realize that. They are wasting their time talking about the Election Law as promised to Čović, part of the parties from Sarajevo. Let them at least focus on some other tasks they can accomplish."

The High Representative should focus more on the entity where they threaten to arrest him, Efendić emphasized.

"To see what is happening with the police of that entity. Why the police reform in BiH was never implemented. I fear that ethnic cleansing of returnees continues in the RS, and the RS Ministry of Interior is neither multi-ethnic nor aimed at protecting residents. Interventions only in the FBiH are not useful to us."

Regarding the announced reconstruction of the Sarajevo Canton Government, he says it is 'nonsense'.

"Processes of changing the government in Sarajevo Canton are constantly underway. As soon as one government is formed, some group of representatives starts seeking a majority to form another," he concluded.