When Nikšić combs his hair like Čović: Only dictatorship, by Tito!

By Rasim Belko

On the property of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, in power under an apartheid regime and falsely presenting themselves as social democrats, the Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina is ready to introduce dictatorship into the parliamentary life of the Federation.

Clearly, one cannot escape their roots, nor legal violence without which a party that has long lost its political face would never have been in power. Why is the SDP crucial in the story of the anti-democratic rise to power and the introduction of parliamentary dictatorship?

Very simply, because of what that party should represent, as the SDP has been valued as a civic party of multi-ethnic composition since Dayton. However, as if they realized in the SDP that the struggle for the ideals of the international and a civic-democratic society does not bring comfortable seats, positions, money, and power. That is probably why they stood shoulder to shoulder with the radical right of HDZ BiH in a destructive campaign against democracy.

Shoulder to shoulder with them is the selectively liberal Our Party, whose human rights values do not rest on conventions and civilizational norms, but vary from situation to situation. NiP, on the other hand, is merely a structure of interest groups for whom what they received elsewhere was not enough.

When we consider everything, with the clear fact that HDZ BiH does not give up on full control over the Federation and that Dragan Čović is also a product of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, it is clear where the amendments to the Rules of Procedure come from, following the recipe of Tito and the party.

And the recipe is dictatorship. At least that's how Mahir Mešalić, head of the DF Club in the House of Representatives, sees it.

“The proposed amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the House of Representatives of the FBiH are the introduction of dictatorship. These new Rules of Procedure provide for a reduction in the number of discussions, rebuttals, and a reduction in the speaking time for representatives, which will be a worse situation than in the entity of RS,” Mešalić told NAP.

Admir Čavalić told NAP that “the proposed amendments to the Rules of Procedure diminish the significance of Parliament and increase the significance of the ruling majority”.

“These amendments to the Rules of Procedure introduce something like the institution of verbal offense through the back door, where it is evident that attempts are being made to limit the speeches of representatives, to vote on all items at the end, so that representatives of the majority do not have to be present at discussions on all items, and to limit discussions. This is an anti-democratic restriction of freedom,” states Čavalić.

The Trojka and HDZ have clearly concluded that the opposition is a surplus in their parliamentary activities, so they have proposed that in the new Rules of Procedure, agenda items can be submitted no later than 24 hours before the session, that representatives cannot talk much, as this leaves a bad artistic impression for an ever worse and more unsuccessful government, that the leadership of the House can take away the floor and expel representatives, and much more.

To a large extent, all of this was already defined, but now it is desired to adapt it to the model of managing sessions known as the “Stevandić model”. The Parliament of the Federation has not had an example like Nebojša Vukanović since Mirnes Ajanović. If the leftists, liberals, and radicals succeed in their intentions, a large part of the opposition will end sessions in the political locker room before time.

Who cares about European and democratic practices, after all. However, the whole story about the Rules of Procedure could end up in the Constitutional Court of FBiH, given that a practice contrary to human rights and the rights of elected officials is being introduced, as well as due to the retroactive application of the Rules of Procedure by which the Trojka and HDZ are trying to replace personnel in working bodies.

And everyone already knows that this is primarily because of the Election and Appointment Committee, so that the Trojka members can fulfill their promise and elect Čović's Marin Vukoja to the Constitutional Court. In addition to Vukoja, the goal is to ensure passage in the working bodies for two judges of the Constitutional Court of BiH who will be elected next year.

Mešalić says that this abolishes expertise and competence.

“Committees are divided by expertise. Now, when a representative leaves and was a member of the Election and Appointment Committee, the Legislative-Legal Committee, or the Constitutional-Legal Committee, the one who entered or enters replaces them. If a lawyer was in the Legislative-Legal Committee, and a medical specialist entered instead, it is clear where this is leading,” points out Mešalić.

Eldar Čomor (SDA), a member of the Election and Appointment Committee, told NAP: “This is an attempt to take control of the Election and Appointment Committee. It is solely a desire for only one candidate's name for a judge of the Constitutional Court of BiH to reach the Parliament of FBiH - Marin Vukoja, whom they politically rated as the first candidate despite having no day of work experience in the judiciary”.

Everything is clear, Nikšić and Čović have started to resemble each other, as they say – they comb their hair the same way. And they swear the same way – only dictatorship, by Tito!

They will worry about human rights, constitutionality, and democracy when they go into opposition, why would they need that to bother them now!