Konaković: If the troika does not have a joint candidate for the BiH Presidency, it is not a great loss

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The President of the People and Justice Party, Elmedin Konaković, has announced the imminent start of talks with partners Naša stranka and the SDP BiH regarding a possible joint candidate for the BiH Presidency.

Konaković stated that he hopes the joint candidate will be a non-party figure or a person who equally belongs to all, so as not to represent the leadership of any of the actors and to relax relations within the troika.

“It is not impossible for there to be multiple candidates, but in my opinion, that does not affect the final decision not only of the troika but also of other parties we are talking to, that this should be a serious bloc that will, I am convinced, lead processes in 2022 in the Council of Ministers, the Federal Government, and the cantons. It would be good for the crown of that coalition to be a joint candidate, and we will do everything to make that happen, and if it doesn't, it won't be a huge loss,” Konaković said on Polis TVSA.

He announced that NIP will certainly propose a candidate, either within the troika or independently, but did not specify whether it would be him, stating that the party bodies will make the decision.

The President of NIP also said that the party will respond to the negotiations on the BiH Election Law and will accept the outstretched hand of the American, German, and British administrations.

“For us, the Election Law is a topic that must be discussed. We have not withdrawn and will not withdraw from the negotiations because then someone else will sit at that table and express their opinion. At that table, Čović will sit alone if he is the only one responding, and then he might convince people that what he is saying is correct. I think that at this moment, the Election Law should be discussed,” Konaković said.

Speaking about the relationship between HDZ BiH and SDA, i.e., that Dragan Čović and Bakir Izetbegović have mostly negotiated the Election Law, the President of NIP said that the SDA must take a final stance.

“They must say, 'This is how we see the solution to the problem,' because they have presented themselves as leaders of the process for too long, and now when it is truly time to lead the process, they are only listening to what someone will say and measuring it against the possible outcome of the next elections. They must start behaving more bravely; the state of BiH at this moment needs brave leaders, and their calculation is costing us too much. It is not natural that only the two of them are discussing this, it is not natural that Izetbegović is discussing it with Plenković, it is not natural that Šefik Džaferović and Željko Komšić are not part of these processes, but they have created this unnatural situation,” Konaković said.