Komšić: We must preserve faith in the idea of the republic and hope that a better BiH is possible

KLJUČ and BOSANSKA KRUPA, (Patria) - Candidate for the BiH Presidency member Željko Komšić told citizens today at rallies in Ključ and Bosanska Krupa that their votes are the only thing standing between them and the opponents of the idea of civic democracy.

- We must preserve faith in the idea of the Republic. The moment we stop believing that the vote and democracy can change our lives is the day we will lose it. Let us not lose in that fight. We have become less interested in what is happening to us. The media, educational and cultural institutions, sports associations - everything has fallen asleep.

People are trying to 'numb' themselves, so even during the election campaign, as the peak of democratic expression, this is happening. One gets the impression that in our society, progress cannot be achieved by an individual, nor by a group of citizens gathered around a common interest, even if it is a cultural or sports event. We are not present in conversations in squares, on the streets, only a few on social networks, we do not act, and worse, we remain silent.

In my programmatic commitment 'Presidential Vision of Progress', I offered everyone my view of the situation, a concept of action, invited other candidates to do the same, tried to provoke analysts, the media, the public to point out what is good, wrong, unrealistic in my or the coalition's program, but I did not receive even a superficial critique, let alone a respectable response.

I expect that by the end of the campaign we will finally talk about unemployment, the departure of young people, the position of BiH in the region and its position in European and global integrations. The way we, the people of this region, have always done. Loudly and without mincing words. Do not let them kill the idea of the Republic, the democracy we nurtured among ourselves even when there were no political parties. We politicians must not just 'tolerate' it, but always highlight it as a fundamental value of politics and our BiH society.

Let us stop only talking for ourselves and our own, let us stop only listening to ourselves and our own. Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a republic state, will again be a society in which, as before, everyone was turned towards everyone. I believe in that and that is why I am in politics - concluded Željko Komšić.