Frenjo: Bošković will continue his policy in Stolac, and the CEC made that possible

Representative of the Initiative for Stolac Nermina Frenjo told Patria that she does not expect the mayor of Stolac Stjepan Bošković to change his poor local policy, after he was elected mayor of this Herzegovinian town for the fourth time on Sunday.

The Central Election Commission (CEC BiH) announced on Sunday evening that the winner of the repeated elections for mayor of Stolac was the incumbent mayor, Stjepan Bošković, candidate of HDZ BiH. This is Bošković's fourth term as mayor of Stolac. He was first elected in 2004. Out of a total of 7,180 valid votes, Bošković won 4,276 votes on Sunday. His opponent, Mate Komšić, won 2,904 votes. Komšić was an independent candidate.

Before the Local Elections, the Initiative for Stolac accused Bošković of involvement in crime, as well as of destroying life in Stolac with the help of the local HDZ. Young people are leaving this municipality because they cannot find work here. Also, Bošković and HDZ are accused of trying to incite and maintain inter-ethnic tensions among citizens.

After his victory on Sunday, Bošković said that he does not divide citizens by nationality and that he will be the mayor of all citizens.

Frenjo says she does not believe there will be a change in Mayor Bošković's policy.

- Let Bošković answer why he has not been the mayor of all citizens until now. Why have Bosniaks been unable to obtain a permit for a cemetery, where they could bury the deceased, for ten years? Why are Croats moving out of Stolac? – said Frenjo. She believes that Bošković and HDZ should thank the CEC, with „whose help they won the repeated elections in Stolac“. Without their help, says Frenjo, Bošković and HDZ had little chance of remaining in power.

Due to the incident that broke out during the elections in Stolac on October 2, 2016, the CEC annulled the elections in this municipality and called new ones, but in a way that the pro-Bosniak candidate for mayor of Stolac, Salmir Kaplan, was removed from the list. Kaplan was accused of causing an incident at one of the polling stations on October 2.  In the race for mayor of Stolac, only Bošković and independent candidate Mate Komšić remained, „who in no way could fight against the HDZ system“.