Ivanić: Čović can only lose Dodik, he was given everything

The Alliance for Changes RS, with its partners SDA and Democratic Front, will form the state government, Mladen Ivanić, PDP leader and BiH Presidency Chairman, told the BiH news agency Patria.

He sees nothing controversial in the fact that the government in Republika Srpska was formed by a coalition led by SNSD, and that the leader of HDZ BiH, Dragan Čović, stated that his party's partner in the state government is whoever has the majority in the smaller BiH entity, which currently means Milorad Dodik.

- What happened in Republika Srpska is not unexpected. It was known that Dodik would form the government. But it is also known that the Alliance for Changes RS has a signed agreement with partners from the Federation of BiH on forming the state government, Ivanić explains, adding that if Čović decides that Dodik remains his partner, then he will not be in the Council of Ministers of BiH.

The calculation, according to Ivanić, is quite clear - the Alliance for Changes - SDA - DF have the majority in the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH.

- Next week, the three of us (members of the BiH Presidency, op.a.) should discuss the appointment of a prime minister-designate. For now, at this stage when all options are possible, it is ungrateful to say when official talks with parliamentary parties about proposing a prime minister-designate could begin, or whether the parties themselves will be left to complete this task, says Ivanić.

At this stage, he points out, our partners from the Federation of BiH hold the key to forming the state government.

- Čović is pushing Dodik, we have an agreement with partners from the Federation, and we will see what happens in the end. If one considers everything that has been given to HDZ BiH, i.e., Čović, it is clear that in this story about forming the government at the state level, he can only lose Dodik. What he will decide, I would not want to prejudge, Ivanić points out.