WHERE ARE THE STATESMEN Covic is a loser today, Bosniaks were yesterday, and no one has reason to celebrate!

By: A. Čorbo-Zećo

It is already known that Dragan Čović cares exclusively about his party and personal interests, and today, with his statement regarding the amendments to the Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina imposed by the High Representative Christian Schmidt, he confirmed that he does not care about the state of BiH at all.

Thus, Čović's support for Schmidt depends exclusively on the benefit Čović and the HDZ gain, not necessarily even for Croats in BiH, because Čović considers only those legitimate who are from the HDZ or at least part of the HNS.

Thus, Čović called Schmidt's decision harmful, and it is indeed harmful to him, because it took away the tool through which he was trying to push through political changes concerning the method of electing members of the Presidency of BiH, along with technical amendments.

Now Čović has no starting point to demand and condition his partners in power, so his reaction, unlike in 2022 and 2023 when he celebrated Schmidt, is completely expected.

"The High Representative is imposing 114 amendments to the Election Law without any need, which negates all positive effects on our European path. This imposition compromises all previous positive effects of the parliamentary majority and calls into question their future joint work. The consequences of such impositions at this moment can be immeasurable for the integration perspectives and the European future of BiH. Therefore, we call on the OHR and the member states of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) to review this decision and comprehensively consider its consequences," said Čović.

The HDZ leader thus continues to provoke the United States, which supported Schmidt's decision, while the European Union has once again shown weakness. Their opposition to the imposition of the Election Law did not deter Schmidt from doing so.

And while Čović claims that Schmidt is imposing 114 amendments without any need, he should know that these very amendments relate to the requests from Brussels, and that they do not include the 'legitimate representation' that both Čović and Croatia insist on.

It is known that the Croatian government directly lobbied for Schmidt's previous interventions when he annulled the political will of Bosniaks, as well as the electoral will of the citizens, so Čović even considered the suspension of the Constitution for one day a good move. All this shows how much Čović cares about the state and citizens.

“President Čović and Plenković welcomed the intervention of High Representative Christian Schmidt in the Constitution of the Federation of BiH and the Election Law, which contributes to achieving legitimate representation in the House of Peoples of the Federation of BiH. They emphasized that the High Representative's move contributes to the stability and well-being of BiH and represents the first step in further electoral reform,” stated the report after one of the meetings between Čović and Plenković.

Today, the positions are completely different, which should certainly be a signal to Čović's partners in power, namely that Čović does not care about the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, nor about fair and honest elections, if they are to be fair and honest at all, because the 114 amendments, which have not yet been fully analyzed, need to be implemented.

In any case, we have seen little statesmanlike behavior from yesterday to today. While some celebrate because Schmidt did their job, others criticize him because not everything went their way. And the truth is that we are all at a loss, because a state where an individual makes laws is a poor state, even if those laws are good!