Who is afraid of whom in the presidential candidate debates?

Federal Television will broadcast three election TV debates featuring candidates for the Bosniak and Croat members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the October elections, writes the BiH news agency Patria (NAP).

The first show will be broadcast on Friday, September 12, while the next two shows will be on the following Monday and Wednesday.

Four candidates for the BiH Presidency will be guests in the first show, while five candidates will be guests in the next two shows.

We are publishing the order of appearance of candidates in the Federal Television debate shows:

In the first TV debate, on Friday, Živko Budimir (Party of Justice and Trust - SPP), Džebrail Bajramović (Party of BiH Diaspora), Dragan Čović (Croatian Democratic Union of BiH - HDZ BiH), Bakir Izetbegović (Party of Democratic Action – SDA) should appear.

In the second debate show, Halil Tuzlić (independent candidate), Fahrudin Radončić (SBB-Fahrudin Radončić), Emir Suljagić (Democratic Front Željko Komšić - DF), Mirsad Kebo (independent candidate), Adil Žigić (independent candidate) should appear.

The third show is planned to feature Dr. Mustafa Cerić (independent candidate) and Bakir Hadžiomerović (Social Democratic Party – SDP). In the same show, Anto Popović (Democratic Front Željko Komšić – DF), Sefer Halilović (Bosnian Patriotic Party – BPS) and Martin Raguž (Croatian Democratic Union 1990 – HDZ 1990) should also appear.

The order of candidates for the debate shows was chosen by lot. They were drawn by random selection, live on FTV, by Avdija Šabić, a retired miner who spent his working life in the Zenica Coal Mine, Raspotočje pit, where five Zenica miners lost their lives and 29 were injured on September 4.

From sources close to Federal Television, NAP learns that the cabinet of the current Bosniak member of the Presidency, Bakir Izetbegović, stated several weeks earlier that Izetbegović would not appear in this TV debate if there were opponents in the same show who were not to his liking, including Emir Suljagić and Fahrudin Radončić, allegedly.

Suljagić stated that Izetbegović avoids appearing in TV debates with political competition at all costs, because he is afraid of facing questions related to responsibility for the collapse of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the last four years.

Therefore, Suljagić said, Izetbegović managed to avoid appearing in a television debate with political competition, but under the conditions he requested, he was given the opportunity to address the public without confronting his main opponents on the public service.

After these pressures, the editorial board of Federal Television decided on a random draw of candidates who would appear in the election TV debates, the broadcast of which could be followed live on this television channel, reports NAP.