As Čović, so are they: HDZ BiH ministers ignored the BiH Presidency session

SARAJEVO, (Patria) – Not a single minister from the Council of Ministers of BiH from HDZ BiH attended the extended session of the BiH Presidency held on Monday afternoon, nor did the FBiH Minister of Health Vjekoslav Mandić (HDZ BiH), although the only topic of the session was the coronavirus pandemic and mitigating its consequences on the population and economy of BiH.

As the Patria News Agency has learned, the ministers in the Council of Ministers of BiH duly received invitations, and besides the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH Zoran Tegeltija, the Minister of Security of BiH Fahrudin Radončić, the Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Staša Košarac, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Bisera Turković responded. However, the Minister of Civil Affairs of BiH Ankica Gudeljević, whose portfolio includes the coordination of activities in this case, the Minister of Finance and Treasury Vjekoslav Bevanda, and the Minister of Justice Josip Grubeša did not show up.

The Minister of Defence Sifet Podžić is in self-isolation after returning from Brussels, but the Chief of the Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of BiH, Lieutenant General Senad Mašović, attended the meeting.

The meeting was also attended by the entity prime ministers of RS and FBiH, Radovan Višković and Fadil Novalić, as well as the RS Minister of Health Alen Šeranić. On the other hand, his FBiH counterpart Vjekoslav Mandić was absent.

Bevanda, Gudeljević, and Grubeša sent their representatives, but this approach by HDZ ministers shows how little they respect the state of BiH, the citizens of this country, or the BiH Presidency.

Otherwise, as has been discussed for days, the public would not even know who the FBiH Minister of Health is if it weren't for the coronavirus, so the public was informed about the situation regarding the coronavirus by the lethargic Mandić.

Given that in the past few days, specifically since March 5th when the first case of coronavirus was confirmed in BiH, the leader of HDZ BiH Dragan Čović has not made any statements, it is clear that the ministers are only following the actions of their leader.

Only on Monday, after the 24th case of coronavirus, did the "inner Presidency of HDZ BiH" issue a statement, calling on all representatives in the governments of BiH to do everything through their decisions to mitigate the negative consequences of the epidemic on the economy as much as possible. However, despite this call, the HDZ ministers completely ignored the BiH Presidency session.

In recent days, HDZ and Čović have been more concerned with the Central Election Commission or elections within HDZ Croatia.