Izetbegović: HDZ must ease its demands or we will hold elections under the existing law

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - After the meeting at the EU Delegation on reforms of the electoral legislation and the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, SDA leader Bakir Izetbegović addressed the media, while the leader of HDZ BiH decided to ignore the journalists present.

Izetbegović stated that he is counting on the upcoming meetings in Neum, which will be attended by representatives of most parliamentary parties, and that he expects progress to be made there with a sense of responsibility.

"Where is the way out? It is the willingness, possibly, of HDZ and HNS to understand that they do not have the right to veto and block 100% of topics related to the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, because at this moment they are doing just that, blocking the Federation of BiH," said Izetbegović.

He added that if there is such willingness to truly protect, perhaps a more precisely defined vital interest of the Croatian people, without preventing the will of the majority in the Federal Parliament, a solution can be found for everything else.

"HDZ's proposals are now three steps backward. They need to understand that the representatives of Croats cannot continue doing what they have been doing for three years, or when it comes to the Constitutional Court, for two years," Izetbegović emphasized.

The SDA leader said that the parties did not present any paper with proposals, except for what the Venice Commission has advocated from day one: that ethnic prefixes be removed, and that without that, there can be no implementation of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.

"HDZ is resisting, but I think they will not be able to hold their ground. If there is no agreement, the elections will be held under the current law. They will have to agree, surely they will not do that thing, surely they will not deny citizens the right to vote. I do not believe HDZ will go that far," he said.