Who comes to the Constitutional Court of BiH in Vukoja's 'basket' and what they bring with them

Written by: Muharem Cero

The vehement and ardent advocacy for the appointment of Marin Vukoja as a judge of the Constitutional Court of BiH by certain representatives means only one thing – the current ruling policy is interested exclusively in personal positioning.

There is no other way to interpret the behavior of some representatives whose political parties, only two years ago, advocated the current positions of the opposition, but still raised their hands for Vukoja, whose appointment will cement the progress of Bosnia and Herzegovina and open the door to further destructive actions by Milorad Dodik and the Republika Srpska, as well as the HDZ.

In that course of action, there will be less and less of BiH, and more and more of a composite state and the concept of consociationalism, and the unfulfilled dream of ethno-territorial federal units.

If the Constitutional Court of BiH is staffed by political followers of the UZP and genocidal policies, Bosnia and Herzegovina can count on its fate of division hanging in the balance.

Extorting the appointment of a judge of the Constitutional Court of BiH from the Federation with the unquestionable preference of candidate Vukoja is nothing other than pulling the chair out from under the hanging parliamentary majority. Not only the federal one, but also the state one.

Almost a year after the conclusion of the competition for the appointment of the missing judges from the entity of Republika Srpska, there is no epilogue. Although this non-appointment is interpreted as Dodik's attempt to remove foreign judges from the Constitutional Court of BiH, it also has its other side.

The potential candidates for the two missing judges are slowly being reduced and brought closer to Ognjen Tadić and Milan Blagojević. Both of these candidates are politically compromised and, by the letter of the law, could not be suitable for holding the position of judge of the Constitutional Court of BiH.

Ognjen Tadić, a long-time state parliamentarian, candidate for President of the RS, active member of several political parties, and now an advisor in Dodik's Cabinet.

Milan Blagojević, by the decision of High Representative Valentin Inzko, and due to passing judgments that do not respect the law on the prohibition of disposing of state property, was removed from his judicial function, currently the gray eminence of the Administration for Geodetic Affairs of the RS (RUGIP) in procedures of unconstitutional and illegal registration of state property into the ownership records of the RS.

The whole story is very much related to the possible appointment of Marin Vukoja.

If the political compromise (candidacy for the House of Peoples on behalf of the HDZ) is ignored, overlooked and disregarded by the representatives of the House of Representatives of the PFBiH, and creates a precedent, then all the listed compromises for candidates from the RS are abolished, and the established rule continues its unprecedented constitutional-political life - with all that such an act entails.

Practically, the Constitutional Court of BiH receives all forms of a mirror image of parliamentary life in BiH and becomes an extended arena of conflict between the anti-Dayton and Dayton perceptions.

The conflict of perceptions moves through the grand doors into the chambers of the Constitutional Court. The outcome of such an act can be assumed.

One can only hope that the well-conceived project will not get the desired epilogue, and that the elected representatives of the people will not function as delegates of political trades, but will respect the letter of the law and will be able to justify their actions to those who gave them the mandate.