Crime begins on lampposts, ends in state-owned companies

Written by A. Aljović

Former Prime Minister of Sarajevo Canton Elmedin Konaković recently stated that Izetbegović reproached him because in a public appearance he said that the people are more important to him than the party.

“That saying that the people are more important than the party will bring nothing good to either the party or you,” Izetbegović said.

This is not the first time that the highest SDA officials divide the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and primarily Bosniak citizens, into “ours” and “theirs.” Allegedly, unofficially, but very likely, one of the comments at the highest party bodies of the SDA recently was that young people are leaving the country, but that “ours” are not leaving.

The SDA indeed acts as a kind of closed community, which does not pay much attention to external laws. Either you are with us or against us.

A few days before the elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina on October 7, pre-election posters of the SDA dominate Sarajevo. Although the Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina “prohibits the display of political advertisements on public roads and public surfaces, except in places designated for poster display and advertising,” SDA candidates, predominantly from that party, hang from lighting poles, electricity poles, overpasses, tire repair shops, and from second-hand shops.

The Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina explains that decisions on displaying political posters are made by the local community, but these can by no means be bridges, overpasses, park trees, buildings of public institutions, or other public objects.

In Vogošća, for example, pre-election posters of the current Federal Minister of Interior Aljoša Čampara are plastered no less than on the backs of traffic signs! It can be said that in this case, it is a criminal-corrupt act. Criminal because Minister Čampara, by placing his own poster on a traffic sign, violates the state Rulebook on Traffic Signs. According to Article 3 of that rulebook, “it is not allowed to write content on a traffic sign that is not in the function of the road.” It is difficult to establish any connection between Čampara’s image and the function of the road. The action is simultaneously corrupt because the municipal mayor and Čampara’s party colleague Edin Smajić did nothing to have the improperly displayed posters removed.

The pre-election poster of SDA Vice President Asim Sarajlić hangs, among other places, from the overpass at Kobilja Glava, and that of Dr. Sebija Izetbegović, for example, from the roof of a sports betting shop in the center of Vogošća. The Cantonal Administration for Inspection Affairs points to the municipalities of Centar and Vogošća as the municipalities with the most improperly placed election posters. Ilidža has also been largely defaced.

For a large part of the SDA candidates, it can be said that crime begins on lampposts and ends in state-owned companies and public institutions.