Forto: For a state at the service of citizens, not party elites

(Patria) - On the occasion of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Independence Day, Edin Forto, president of Naša stranka and Prime Minister of Sarajevo Canton, sent a greeting to the citizens. We publish it in full.

“Three decades have passed since we declared ourselves ‘for a sovereign and independent Bosnia and Herzegovina, a state of equal citizens, peoples of BiH - Muslims, Serbs, Croats and members of other nations living in it’, as stated in the 1992 referendum question.

It immediately became clear that voting alone would not be enough to achieve such a BiH. Aggression from Serbia began. We stood up to defend our right to live in the state we want. We all sacrificed something, and many sacrificed everything. Health, body parts and lives. Many civilians also suffered, including children. The aggressor went so far as to commit genocide. The greatest gratitude is owed to those killed in the aggression.

We defended the integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but even 30 years after the referendum, we cannot say that we live in the country for which we opted in the referendum.

Some understood independence, integrity and sovereignty as a temporary category, to try in peacetime, through political means, to achieve war goals according to which Bosnia and Herzegovina ultimately does not exist. Others understood it as uncontrolled, absolute power in which only those who rule are independent, while citizens depend on them.

We said “NO” to both. That “NO” of ours was called historic in 2018. We worked hard in accordance with that “NO” of ours to nationalists and with that referendum “Yes” to a civic Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is precisely in the tone of the struggle for a civic Bosnia and Herzegovina that our proposals for constitutional changes should be read, which ensure that collective and individual rights are not obstacles to each other in their exercise.

We want to restore the true meaning to the determinants of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as given in the 1992 referendum question. By sovereignty, we mean that the state and citizens manage the territory they live on without any external influence. By independence, we mean that citizens make their own life decisions independently, without being conditioned by belonging to any collective – ideological, political, ethnic, religious, etc. By integrity, we mean the unquestionability of the borders of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regardless of its internal administrative organization. By equality – that every citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina has equal opportunities and chances for their realization in every part of their country, regardless of whether they belong to the people who are more numerous in that part or to a party that is in power there.

Despite this, we witness that our patriotism is often called into question. Our openness to the togetherness of all Bosnians and Herzegovinians is portrayed as weakness. The tireless fight against corruption and raising awareness about the misuse of public funds is presented as a diversion from „state issues“. 

We firmly stand by the conviction that care for new mothers is patriotism, building quality infrastructure is a struggle for the state, and raising educational and cultural institutions is a response to threats to its sovereignty - that paying taxes is a patriotic act, and corruption is an act of treason.

We are aware that they will do everything to stop us. They will sow fear, with the help of which they have learned to win. Fear of the other and the different, of the one they say wishes us harm. However, on our side is hope and faith in a better future, which has always been stronger than fear.

On the other hand, citizens in the areas where we are in power, or were until recently, rightly believe that it is better now than before us. It is better in Sarajevo and Tuzla, and it will be better in the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina! Because we are not all the same! We will fight for what we voted for on March 1, 1992. For a state at the service of citizens, not party elites.

It was high time for that. There must be no more delays.

Given the new geopolitical circumstances, it is high time for Euro-Atlantic integrations, which are the only guarantee of lasting peace, security and economic prosperity. We all have a ticket for the journey to such a society. That ticket is the ballot paper, we just have to fill it out correctly. On March 1, 2022, 30 years later, I have no doubt that the majority of citizens are again for a sovereign and independent Bosnia and Herzegovina, a state of equal citizens and peoples of BiH, both constituent and Others. We must show that in October.

Together, as citizens, and period.

Happy Independence Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina!”