GO ON MONDAY IN KONJIC: Nikšić and loyal cadres again violate the Statute, schedule Congress, but no election for SDP president!

For Monday, February 24, in the middle of the workday (2:00 PM) in Konjic, a session of the Main Board of the Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been scheduled.

On the agenda: the current political situation, analysis of the election results of the SDP BiH, but also preparation for the 9th Congress of the SDP BiH.

And it is precisely this Congress that is causing reactions within the SDP membership. Given that Nikšić's "non-statutory extension" of the mandate, approved at the Congress in June 2023, is expiring, they expected elections for the president to be conducted on the principle of 'one member – one vote'.

However, by all accounts, party president Nermin Nikšić, along with a few selected associates, both those in the SDP and those in the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is preparing to remain at the helm of the SDP for at least some more time.

After members of the Main Board received the material for the Main Board session, along with that material, the material for the 9th Congress of the SDP was sent "by mistake." Subsequently, they received an email stating that the Decision on convening the 9th Congress of the SDP BiH would be distributed at the Main Board session.

If this becomes the scenario at the Main Board session and the SDP Congress is scheduled, it will be another trampling of the SDP Statute, as well as the idea of social democracy, which has apparently been absent from the SDP for a long time.

According to information from Patria, the convening of the 9th Congress and the disregard for the Statute were opposed by the Mayor of the Stari Grad Municipality, Irfan Čengić. In an email he sent, he warned the SDP leadership that they were acting contrary to the Statute and very clearly stated that elections for the president must first be held, and then a Congress that confirms the election must be scheduled.

However, in the SDP, they apparently do not respect even their own documents; instead, Nikšić and his loyal clique have their own rules.

The Main Board session on Monday should be attended by about 90 SDP members, among whom are many who have received positions or certain benefits, especially since Nikšić became the federal prime minister. Incidentally, sessions of the SDP Main Board are rare, and even the last one held to confirm the electoral lists was on the verge of a quorum.

Čengić also, in a post from January 27, when the session of the SDP Stari Grad Municipal Board was held, clearly specified which conclusions they adopted.

"Today we adopted conclusions addressed to the Main Board of the SDP BiH to finally call intra-party elections for the president, the Congress for the Main Board and other bodies, and after that, cantonal/regional and municipal/city organizations.

It is time to finally allow the membership to elect and be elected, as written in the Statute, a right that has been suspended for every member for two years," Čengić stated.

As sources from the SDP tell Patria, under the agenda item of analysis of election results, the Main Board session will most likely adopt a decision to dissolve some organizations, specifically those where the positions of mayor/municipal head were lost in the local elections. Whether the Main Board will offer as a conclusion that elections should first be held in those organizations will be known on Monday.

(A. Vrabac)