When Common Sense Gives Up: Čović-Dodik-Trojka and the Politics of Absurdity

By: Amina Čorbo-Zećo

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, due to the current authorities, logic ceases to exist every now and then, while a mad dance unfolds in which it is no longer known who is with whom, nor who is against whom. What is certain is that the excavators got stuck in the mud, the ones with which they announced the removal of SDA cadres from power.

If we listen to the leaders of the Trojka, it is impossible with Dodik, and he is no longer their partner. On the other hand, partnership with Čović is acceptable, even desirable, and at the same time Čović does not give up Dodik!

How to explain to common sense that Dragan Čović and Milorad Dodik are "partners" at the state level, while that same state level has been functionally brought to absurdity? Yes, you read that right, partners. They sit at the table, smile for the cameras, sign papers… and everyone pretends it's normal.

Normalcy has long since taken a break, perhaps a permanent vacation, while citizens wonder if this is a country or something similar, yet not quite!

And while Čović and Dodik embrace state power with all their might, at the same time, in the Federation, Čović, together with his Trojka (SDP, NIP, NS), governs at full capacity. Not only does he govern, but he governs to the detriment of Bosniaks and other citizens.

Thus, MP Zlatan Begić recently masterfully described the politics we are living:

"In fact, I think the point is that the 'Trojka' parties concede to everyone and then call it compromise, they concede to the RS position, then to the RS opposition, and to the HDZ, of course, especially. So the 'Trojka' parties cannot secure support on very principled matters, and then it happens that they reject the budget. That decision to return the budget to the Presidency was the rejection of the state budget. It is still unclear to me how someone can say one thing tonight and another tomorrow. Finally, responsibility must be shown for what is said, instead of following the instructions of the party leader to present a new truth every time and every day.

I think they picked that up from Mr. Konaković, who ended up blaming artificial intelligence for all his numerous contradictory statements. He is a man who has two or three statements in one day that cancel each other out."

The only question is how absurd this is, so much so that common sense cannot categorize it as either "ironic" or "absurd," but simply as a sad reality.

Wherever you look, the system is perfectly designed to favor ethnic games over civic interest. At the state level, Dodik and Čović are staging a comedy of partnership (Borjana Krišto holds the keys to the game), while in the Federation, Čović and the Trojka dictate the tempo and rules of the game, and citizens stare blankly and wonder if this is politics or a circus?

If this confuses you, you are not alone.

And while someone at the state level pretends to be a partner, others at the Federation level know that power can be used as a weapon, and Bosniaks and other citizens become collateral damage of this double logic.

In BiH, it is possible to be both a partner and an enemy simultaneously, to formally stand at the table while practically disregarding civic interests. Welcome to the politics of absurdity, where common sense said goodbye to us long ago, watching Čović-Dodik-Trojka orchestrate a symphony of ethnic and party interests.

The first 'ethnic' part is led by Čović and Dodik, while the Trojka fully pursues party interests. And everything unfolds as if it were normal. And normal? Normal, as we said, has long since gone on vacation.