Formation of government in Sarajevo Canton becomes a tool of blackmail among political parties, citizens suffer, strike in preparation

By A. Vrabac

"NIP has a fantastic result in Sarajevo which is absolutely a winning one," said Elmedin Konaković, president of People and Justice, on election night, October 2, 2022, announcing a large number of mandates in other parliaments as well.

And three months after that fantastic result in the Sarajevo Canton (KS), there is no new KS Government. NIP, SDP, and Our Party have 18 votes, which is a sufficient majority in the Assembly. With one vote from Damir Marjanović (For New Generations), the new Government could have been formed very quickly after the confirmation of the General Election results. 

But, did NIP really achieve a fantastic result as it seemed to Konaković on election night.

Just a few months after the party was formed in 2018, in the October General Elections, People and Justice won 29,821 votes and six mandates in the KS. Due to transfers from other parties, they reached ten mandates in the KS Assembly, making them the strongest political option, and accordingly, they had seven ministerial positions.

Four years later, it was expected that NIP would have complete dominance in the KS. However, NIP won 39,146 votes and only one more mandate than in 2018. In the KS Assembly, they are tied with SDA in terms of the number of mandates, and SDP is right behind them with six mandates, which is a significant step forward compared to 2018, increasing their mandates from four to six. SDP improved its results at all other levels as well.

After eight parties (SDP, NIP, Our Party, NES, Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina, PDA, For New Generations, and BHI Fuad Kasumović) decided to form a coalition and form a government at the federal, state, and cantonal levels where possible, with HDZ and SNSD, the process of forming the KS Government has slowed down.

The appetites of political leaders have grown, and positions in the KS Government are suddenly no longer enough. It even went so far that working groups from five parties clearly stated that there would be no new KS Government until governments at higher levels were formed. Making the formation of one government conditional on the formation of another is irresponsible, thoughtless, and shows the full destructiveness of political bargaining.

Such thinking has led to a situation where there is no new budget, mass protests by workers who receive salaries from the KS budget are announced, and demands for salary increases are being made.

On the other hand, the head of the KS Government, Edin Forto, is suddenly no longer eager to remain KS Prime Minister, although that position was gifted to him twice thanks to Konaković. The president of Our Party immediately renounced his assembly mandate and sees himself in the position of a state minister. However, the formation of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina is highly questionable after the latest moves by Milorad Dodik, the adoption of unconstitutional laws, preparations for the unconstitutional January 9th, attacks on state property, institutions... The Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina and the People's European Party, which form a bloc within the 'Osamorka' (the eight parties) agreed upon even before the elections, have clearly set a red line for the 'Osamorka' that was not set in talks with Dodik and Dragan Čović.

The destructiveness of waiting for governments at higher levels is now evident, instead of the KS Government being formed, which would have somewhat relaxed relations. The KS Prime Minister has already announced that there will not be enough funds in the KS budget for certain social benefits that already began in 2021. This year will certainly be economically difficult, so it is irresponsible to delay the formation of the government and calculate with positions while citizens worry about what awaits them in the coming months. Forto announced the formation of the KS Government between January and March, and the main culprit for its absence is "negotiations with a new partner," which is the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina. A party with five mandates, like NS, has the right to seek certain positions, especially if they believe they can manage certain portfolios much better than was the case in the previous Government. 

A warning strike by eight trade unions in the KS is scheduled for January 23. As announced at the strike in front of the KS Government on December 14, 25,000 employees could paralyze the entire Canton for an hour if the government remains deaf to their demands for salary increases due to the constant rise in the cost of living.

However, it seems that Forto, who is leaving, is determining how much salary is enough for each worker. Can such a thing really be afforded by any government, especially one that calls itself socially sensitive and civic?