HNS IS A HOAX: Cvitanović is a political coward, he should have let the 'Falcon' fly into the past

Written by: Rasim Belko

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A symbol of manipulation and autocracy over a people within a democratic system. That, in short, is how the Herzegovinian “Falcon”, also known as Dragan Čović, could be described.

For years in power, with loyal and suitable cadres placed at key levels of the government verticals in the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The lifelong leader of the “flagship” Croatian party - the Croatian Democratic Union. True, there are fewer and fewer Croats in this union, and democracy has long been absent.

What Čović has, and what still keeps him on the pedestal of the ethnic leader of Bosnian-Herzegovinian Croats, are the immature leaders of other parties with the Croatian prefix.

Therefore, over the past ten or so days, Čović has been making moves in one direction: securing the role of lifelong leader of the Croats, even when Croats in this country are reduced to the level of a statistical error.

The Croatian National Assembly, a non-governmental body that Čović uses as a parallel system, all with one goal - preserving power in his own hands.

Ilija Cvitanović, the leader of HDZ 1990, was close to deciding to step out of the political empire of the Mostar “Falcon”. But such decisions require nerve. Cvitanović is clearly not of that caliber, so even in the upcoming electoral cycle, he will be the one peeking out from under Čović's coattails.

In strengthening his political role, the leader of HDZ BiH has made another move. He announced that the Election Law would be agreed upon by the end of March. Either we do not know what the Sarajevo political oligarchy has in store for us, or Čović is bluffing in an attempt to speed up the process of obtaining an electoral entity for HDZ.

Almost everyone condemns the Election Law according to his model. On Čović's side of interpreting constitutionality are only the fans of the UZP in Croatia and HDZ, “Falcon's” interest partner Milorad Dodik, and a handful of minor European diplomats.

This idea is, in principle, doomed to failure, but with the Bosniak-Bosnian leaders we have on the scene today, nothing can be ruled out.

What is the goal of the joint appearance and pushing of the UZP's electoral legislation?

Dragan Čović has been the mainstay of Bosnian Croat politics for decades. At the same time, he is the biggest problem of these our Croats. The queen bee keeps the community together, but this HDZ queen bee has almost emptied the hive.

He has held the highest positions in our political system - Deputy Prime Minister of the Federation of BiH and Minister of Finance, and member of the BiH Presidency. The financial system of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been in the hands of his party machinery for about 20 years, and the same applies to the positions of Minister of Justice at the state and entity levels. The presidents of the FBiH entity are almost guaranteed to come from HDZ BiH.

All that time, while the “Falcon” and his party elite ruled and continue to rule from key positions, the Croatian political body in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been shrinking.

Čović chose the west bank of Mostar, Široki Brijeg, Grude, and a few other places. He let the rest of Herzegovina and Bosnia go down the drain. And down that drain went the Croats as well.

Some Croatian towns are eerily empty today. Croatian villages and cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina were not emptied by war, nor by any natural phenomenon. They were driven away by the politics of Dragan Čović, the Mostar “Falcon”.

Aware of the ethnic persecution of his own people, which he himself orchestrated, Čović has apparently decided to secure his hold on power, at least while he is alive. Presumably, he will retire in the afterlife.

There are no Croats left; they are now far from their hearths and, fortunately for them, far from Čović. The HDZ leader is aware that only control over several Croatian parties united in the HNS separates him from the political abyss.

The “Falcon” knows that he will have fewer and fewer voters in every upcoming election. Without the UZP-style Election Law, HDZ faces a descent into history, because it is almost certain that other parties will then have the option to act jointly, but in the interest of Croats throughout BiH, not Dragan Čović.

No one should or may touch the right of Bosnian-Herzegovinian Croats to their constituent status and to elect their representatives. That would be a violation of the Constitution.

But, under no circumstances MUST Dragan Čović, the greatest disgrace of BiH Croats, be allowed the Election Law he demands.

Such a law is a violation of European rulings, conventions, and the Constitution of BiH.

Any kind of backroom dealing, which we have often witnessed from Bosniak-Bosnian representatives, would be a threat to the vital national interest of all who live in this country.

Bakir Izetbegović, Željko Komšić, and Fahrudin Radončić should and must let Čović disappear from the political scene, just as those whose vital interests the “Falcon” fought for have disappeared from this country.

Any other agreement will deprive this country of a people who are part of its history and its habitat.