Who Lies More in the Triangle of the Troika – Konaković and Nikšić One Thing, Forto Another

Written by: Rasim Belko @rasimbelko

After attempts to shift the blame for the blockade of the Growth Plan onto the opposition, specifically the SDA, the leading figures of the Troika project have again retreated to media bunkers from which they assure us that everything is possible and that everything will be rosy.

First, we saw Elmedin Konaković, the NiP leader, at one corner of the political triangle of foreign origin. Lacking spin, he attacked the opposition and demanded a TV duel from the leaders of the SDA and DF, Bakir Izetbegović and Željko Komšić. Konaković is aware that the campaign is about to start, that he will have little to offer, and that a pressing debate with Izetbegović and Komšić could help him try to repair the Troika's tarnished reputation using spin techniques.

Then Nermin Nikšić appeared on the scene. The illegal leader of the Troika's red triangle and the imposed Prime Minister of the Federation. In an interview with Dnevni avaz, Nikšić tried to fool the Bosnian public and blame election campaigns for the poor performance of the government he leads vertically.

“Too often, processes of interest to citizens and the state fall victim to election campaigns, when many compete to block as many processes as possible, to present themselves as alleged protectors of ‘their own’ from others, while citizens suffer. I hope that everyone, including the opposition, will show the necessary degree of responsibility and awareness of the general interest so that we can adopt the Growth Plan and unlock tens of millions of euros intended for strengthening state institutions and improving the lives of BiH citizens,” says Nermin Nikšić.

And again he lies. Because the creation, adoption, and submission of the Growth Plan is the responsibility of the government, not the opposition. Therefore, the story that someone is blocking the government from sending the Growth Plan to Brussels for some reason is yet another euro-communist bag of dust thrown into the eyes of citizens. The Growth Plan and the accompanying reforms are a document of the government's intentions about what it will do, and it has not been sent to Brussels solely because of the bad intentions of the government formed by the Troika.

Nikšić also tried to throw dust in our eyes via social media, claiming that BiH's European path is not halted, although it is clear to everyone that this path is heavily barricaded, and behind the barricades lies a difficult-to-pass tunnel. The story of the most successful government ever will be hard to sell to citizens, because the success of the European path is measured by reforms, and the success of the government by the standard of living. And the citizens of BiH have no opportunity to see reforms nor to enjoy a better standard of living.

At the end of the day, here comes Edin Forto, who feels sorry for his own fate because he is left out while his party colleague Duška Jurišić works with HDZ cadres on dismantling the “Kovačević vs. BiH” persuasion, which would also enable that other Forto to run wherever and however he wants.

However, while claiming he is discriminated against, Forto takes a huge sum as a minister in the Council of Ministers, and he himself admits that he hasn't really earned that money.

"Bosnia and Herzegovina is the only country in the Western Balkans that has not sent the Reform Plan. This was for us a kind of drill that showed we are not yet ready, which does not mean we should give up. The Growth Plan is still there, the money is there, no one is preventing us from trying to agree and send the harmonized document in, say, 15 days, and then we will see what the European Commission has to say about it," Forto stated.

So, the question is who lies more in the triangle of the Troika. Konaković and Nikšić, who blame the opposition for everything, or Forto, who says there are no obstacles to sending the Growth Plan?

All three are lying. The first two are just washing their hands of responsibility by shifting it to the opposition, while Forto lies out of that old belief in a European Dodik. And while the leading figures of the Troika live in lies and false beliefs, Bosnia and Herzegovina, like a wild boar of the Western Balkans, sinks into mud and mire. The project of the compromise Troika has evidently proven suitable only for the interests of the HDZ and SNSD structures, for whom the European path and accompanying reforms cannot be in their interest. Because if they acted that way, they are aware that they would very quickly jeopardize their own separatist interests.

And while they brazenly lie to us to create an illusion of progress, the Troika members are burdening the state with hundreds of millions of KM wherever they are in power. These debts are not planned or programmatic, because their goal is not developmental, but solely to maintain social peace while every day a union sends them a warning letter.

Meanwhile, the imposed Nikšić & Co. have ordered sports limousines. As Elvir Bucalo said last night, Nikšić neither earned nor deserved those limousines worth 1.6 million KM. And, a lot of fires across the Federation could have been extinguished with special vehicles that could have been purchased instead of R line vehicles (Forto claims this is not luxury but a work tool) for ministers who are leading the entity and the state into bankruptcy!