Konaković forgot what he signed and goes against SDP: The Presidency without the House of Peoples is possible!

By: A. Čorbo-Zećo

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Elmedin Konaković, leader of the People and Justice party, said something at today's press conference that is completely contrary to the signed conclusions, which should be followed by opposition parties, even though among them is the Alliance for a Better Future, which has been in power for almost seven years at the Federation level.

Answering the question of whether they would support resolving the issue of electoral legislation in a way that addresses the election of members of the Presidency, but not the House of Peoples, Konaković said:

“This is my personal reflection, anything that can bring one meter of progress at this moment, that can show this country a step forward in the process, we would support. If it is an agreement on a member of the Presidency who would be elected in a way that satisfies a larger number of BiH citizens, we would agree to that. And the analysis of the House of Peoples would be a secondary issue that really must be analyzed,” said Konaković.

The leader of NIP apparently forgot what he recently certified with his signature, but with today's statement he showed that he deviates significantly from what he signed with the SDP and others.

“After the adoption of the above-mentioned amendments that will guarantee fair and free elections, we can proceed to Amendments to the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina in accordance with the binding judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina concerning the structure, method of election and powers of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the House of Peoples. The signatories of the conclusions believe that these amendments should be adopted as a single set of amendments to the normative framework in the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, at the same session of the House of Representatives and the House of Peoples,” the conclusion states.

That NIP is far from what the SDP advocates is evidenced by the statement of Nermin Nikšić, which he gave regarding electoral legislation and reforms.

“But more important than the election of members of the Presidency, in some variant for us in the SDP, is the issue of the jurisdiction of the election of the House of Peoples at both the entity and state levels. We believe that at this moment the House of Peoples is more important than the House of Representatives, because they decide on all issues that are decided in the House of Representatives, with the additional possibility of raising the issue of vital national interest. We are ready to determine the jurisdiction of the House of Peoples in a way that we create a list of protection of vital national interests. We are ready for that list to be even broader than what is determined in standard circumstances.

Obviously, the problem is that some people believe that this country, the Constitution and the law must be subordinated to them. At this moment, the key is the decision of the HDZ and their approach when it comes to the part related to the Federation, and certainly the readiness in the RS to do the same,” said Nikšić.