Kovačević: Consociation is not possible in Bosnia and Herzegovina

(Patria) - Slaven Kovačević, advisor to the BiH Presidency member Željko Komšić and appellant before the European Court of Human Rights, who won a ruling according to which the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina discriminates against its citizens, spoke at a session of the association of independent intellectuals Krug 99.

Slaven Kovačević spoke about the model of organizing Bosnia and Herzegovina, and we are presenting his address in full:

"There are those today who claim that Bosnia and Herzegovina, or its political system, is organized on the principles of consociation, which is absolutely untrue. According to them, there is a balanced distribution of political power between ethnic groups, called constituent peoples, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and according to them, this is an indicator of the existence of consociation.

They even refer to the existence of an ethnic veto, or as it is more wrongly called, a 'vital national interest,' which they consider confirmation of the existence of consociational democracy. All of this is absolutely untrue and very easy to debunk with counter-arguments. If we know that consociational democracy has its 4 fundamental principles, with the first being the existence of a Grand Coalition, then these great proponents of consociation should know that political parties with opposing ideological views participate in the creation of Grand Coalitions, and ethnic communities or constituent peoples, as we call them here, do not participate at all.

The distribution of political power within consociation occurs between the actors in the political system, and not between ethnic communities. Some even cite the example of the political system of Belgium, which does not have consociation, but they think it does and offer it as a solution for Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is such an absurdity from a theoretical standpoint and practical application, but they resort to manipulation to convince the general public of the correctness of such a proposal, counting on the fact that the general public does not have enough knowledge about what consociation actually is.

We ask them, do they know that there is no consociation in Belgium, that the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium is an ethnic Algerian, meaning she is neither Flemish nor Walloon nor German, so that they would have confirmation of their ideas. Furthermore, do these proponents of consociation know that discussions are underway in Belgium to abolish the bicameral system or that upper house which is the source of blockades and dysfunctionality, as is the case with us due to the existence of the House of Peoples.

Furthermore, do these proponents of consociation know that it is based on the proportional distribution of political power, meaning that the number of mandates and positions is derived proportionally, and not through parity as is the case in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Therefore, consociation is not possible in Bosnia and Herzegovina, nor does it exist now; it is merely the inarticulate wish of those ethno-nationalists who, through manipulation of the general public, seek to secure political positions for themselves by strengthening ethnic divisions in the country.

Consociation is the opposite of the idea of liberal democracy, which we strive for in order to achieve Euro-Atlantic integration. That is why we choose democracy and reject consociation as an idea.

And finally, regarding the requests to the Grand Chamber concerning the 'Kovačević' ruling. The message that the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina is sending to the international community is that it disputes the established discrimination and violation of human rights, because clearly someone wants to maintain the existing discrimination and violation of human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It even seems that some were prepared to break the law just to dispute the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights which established discrimination and violation of human rights. The High Representative has joined in this, whose rhetoric is completely identical to the rhetoric of HDZ officials, which raises the question of his objectivity, or rather, his visible bias.

Regardless, I will continue my fight with the support of all those who have actively, clearly, and unequivocally supported my efforts and the 'Kovačević' ruling, for which I am very grateful.