HOW WE BECAME PARTNERS WITH DODIK AND ČOVIĆ Who buys fog, suffocates in smog!

By: R. Belko

This is a country where Constitutional Court decisions have not been implemented for decades, and yet it is asked to ensure the rule of law on European and other paths. This is a state where political sorcerers and their political sects are stronger than the system, courts, and everything that someone from an organized country could only marvel at. We have been witnessing some processes and struggles for the rule of law for too long to consider ourselves a serious state.

Milorad Dodik carries the bell of someone who continuously fights against the decisions of domestic and international courts. He does not recognize international judgments from The Hague, the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH and the Court of BiH are toys for his daily political needs, all under the guise of protecting Serbdom and the entity of Republika Srpska.

Many are hiding behind Dodik's bell. Mostly Dragan Čović and his political sect, which presents itself as the protector and strongest political force of the Bosniak Croats. Thus, two decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Federation of BiH from 1998 are still gathering dust today, with no intention of paying attention to them or implementing them.

The decision U-11/97 of the Constitutional Court of FBiH states that the name Hercegbosanska županija is unconstitutional. Firstly, this canton does not belong to Herzegovina, and secondly, by international agreement and the Constitution of the Federation, the official name of this administrative unit is Canton 10. However, even then, Čović's political sect decided to attack the Constitution by surprise, naming it unconstitutionally in an illegal assembly (composed only of Croats).

24 years have passed since then, and neither HDZ nor Dragan Čović care about the Constitution and the unconstitutional name, nor do any of the numerous patriotic and other Sarajevo parties even try to question him about that name. And it is not only the name of the canton that is unconstitutional. The symbols are also controversial because they were taken from the para-state, criminal movement Herceg-Bosna.

However, the name of that canton is not the only thing the Constitutional Court ruled on, and which HDZ decided to ignore. In decision U-7/98, it was ruled that the very name "županija" is contrary to the Constitution, because in that supreme act, administrative units are defined as cantons and nothing more.

Therefore, every time you say or write županija, you have violated the constitution. However, that is your personal responsibility. The political responsibility of HDZ and all those who form the government with them in the cantons is to remove the word "županija" from the official names of those cantons. I don't remember hearing anyone from Sarajevo problematize this in the last 10 years.

And the media are doing it less and less. Accustomed to unconstitutionality, they follow the path of least resistance in a conformist manner. Thus, yesterday, the online page of the state television BHRT reported that the Assembly of "Hercegbosanska županija" will be constituted on Monday. The news initially originated from the News Agency owned by the Federation - Federal News Agency.

And here we return to the story "we will not get tired". It seems that the pro-Bosnian/Bosniak political scene is quite exhausted by mutual political conflicts to the point of extermination, so that the constitutions and laws of the country they "fight" for are not even in the footnotes of the programs they talk about and no one has seen.

That is why Čović's and Dodik's unconstitutional political sects become inevitable (read: desirable) political partners. Because neither will Sarajevo touch Čović and Dodik for unconstitutional actions, nor will this duo endanger the patriotic facade of the Sarajevo political front. The story about the unconstitutional name of Canton 10 and the unconstitutional županija is just a litmus test of how anti-state actions are passing before our eyes.

Sarajevo has long been suffocated by smog. But the political fog of that Sarajevo is increasingly suffocating the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. And perhaps we deserve no better. Because whoever agrees to buy fog, sooner or later must pay the price for their choice. Political short-sightedness is a dangerous disease.