Izetbegović responds to Konaković: Run for the Presidency and we will 'go head-to-head' and 'discuss on camera'

(Patria) - SDA President Bakir Izetbegović responded on social media after NiP leader Elmedin Konaković invited him to "step up to the line" and "discuss on camera".

Izetbegović began by stating that presidents of large and serious parties do not engage in one-on-one discussions with presidents of small parties anywhere in the world.

- Especially not when the presidents of such parties are listed in EUROPOL's scheme as associates of drug cartels, when they are burdened with affairs of irregular diplomas, and when they weekly lose court cases due to defamation - said Izetbegović.

He also said he would make an exception for Konaković, but under one condition.

- He will have to, as he himself says, truly "step up to the line", not push others in front of him. He will have to run for the position of member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, just as I did a few years ago when I "stepped up to the line" against a political cluster of eleven domestic parties and as many foreign mentors and patrons - stated Izetbegović.

This way, the SDA leader added, Konaković would earn the right to discuss with the president of the strongest political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

- We will have a public debate on any topic, of any duration, on any media - including those that "operate as the Three's policies demand of them".

But, I am sure, Konaković will avoid truly "stepping up to the line", he will hide behind someone else, someone braver. He will fall silent, just as he fell silent when his coalition partner Milorad Dodik cursed the genocide in Konjic.

Until then, I will briefly and concisely respond to the claim that the stories about the betrayals and political bargains of the Three with SNSD and HDZ are a "false narrative".

The list of surrenders and sales, agreed upon in Dodik's distilleries and at basketball games, is too long. Therefore, I will only remind you of the most important and harmful ones:

‣ The suspension of the BiH Constitution to the detriment of the Bosniak people was accepted to enable HDZ to elect a "Muslim representation" in the Government of FBiH;
‣ The Ministry of Security of BiH was handed over to SNSD;
‣ The positions of Deputy Director of OSA, Director of the BiH Service for Foreigners' Affairs, and Director of the BiH Medicines Agency, which SDA did not allow to be taken in the previous term, were handed over to SNSD;
‣ It was agreed in Bakinci to amend the Election Law according to HDZ's wishes and to remove foreign judges from the Constitutional Court of BiH, which was subsequently prevented by the US administration;
‣ The BiH Institute of Metrology was handed over to SNSD. This concession enabled financial benefits for Dodik's media;
‣ The Ministry of Finance and Treasury was handed over to SNSD;
‣ The Indirect Taxation Authority of BiH was handed over to SNSD;
‣ Coefficients for VAT distribution were changed to the detriment of FBiH and in favor of the Republika Srpska entity;
‣ The position of judge of the Constitutional Court of BiH was handed over to HDZ;
‣ The BiH Civil Service Agency was handed over to HDZ, and the consequences are clearly visible in the changes in the ethnic structure of employees in institutions over the last two years;
‣ JP Autoceste FBiH was handed over to HDZ, thus handing over the entire road construction sector in FBiH to that party, with all the consequences we are witnessing;
‣ The Environmental Protection Fund, managed by Esad Humo, a hero of the defense of Mostar, was handed over to HDZ;
‣ The position of member of the FTV Management Board was handed over to HDZ, with Zoran Krešić, a proponent of the restoration of 'Herceg-Bosna', being appointed;
‣ Control over the Independent Board, which is key to the election of the FUP Director, was handed over to HDZ;
‣ Konaković defended SNSD's position by mocking the initiative of a Our Party MP to dismiss them, calling it "populist, destructive, and insufficiently thought out". He only changed his stance after the threat of revealing NiP's secret role in protecting Dodik;
‣ The HDZ's proposal regarding the Southern Gas Interconnection was accepted, which was then prevented by the SDA Caucus and the US Embassy;
‣ 100 million KM was delivered to Dodik for the "godfather's building". Konaković's vote in the Council of Ministers was crucial in this decision;
‣ 30 million KM for digitalization was allocated to companies connected to Milorad Dodik and the Croatian intelligence service (SOA), and after sanctions were imposed on Dodik's company, all the money was forwarded to Zagreb, and so on, and so on - stated Izetbegović.

He added that only a portion of the concessions paid for by Konaković and his partners from the Three for their ministerial and prime ministerial seats were listed.

- Unfortunately, this is not a "false narrative" but a truth that the people have witnessed and whose consequences they feel on their own skin every day - Izetbegović concluded in his post.