Labour continues to support the Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Labour Party of Great Britain is one of the strategically most important partners of the Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina and one of the European parties that most strongly support the work, growth and development of the SDP BiH.

Precisely at the invitation of the Labour Party, Irfan Čengić, Secretary General of the SDP BiH, and Lana Prlić, Vice President of the SDP BiH, are staying in Manchester. The host of the SDP BiH delegation was the Mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham. One of the strongest Labour organisations is located precisely in Manchester, and in the city, Labour holds 95 out of a total of 96 city councillors.

- When one says Manchester in our country, many imagine a multi-million metropolis. However, the city of Manchester, with its 440,000 inhabitants, is much closer to our Sarajevo, but it also shows how such a city, small by European standards, can become a true metropolis. Of course, in Sarajevo, we first have on the agenda basic civilisational and life issues such as drinking water, clean air, regular public transport, and the like. But we will try to transfer the lessons from Manchester and incorporate them into the vision of building a European Sarajevo.

The way party structures are organised is particularly interesting, and we are bringing many lessons from here that we will try to implement in the Social Democratic Party. During the visit, continued cooperation was agreed upon, especially in the area of public policy development and the development of the SDP BiH election programme, where Labour plays a very important role.

From the very beginning, Labour has provided selfless support for the research and preparation of Plan 10, and we are pleased that this will continue. The SDP BiH election programme for 2018 will be at a level never seen before in our country, and such a practice is not even common in many European countries. Taught by the experience from the 2010 – 2014 term, we are entering these elections with a programme that can be described more as a programme for future governments than as a typical pre-election programme - stated Čengić.

Lana Prlić stated that the SDP BiH always strives to stay one step ahead of others, and this will be the case when it comes to the upcoming general elections, for which an exceptionally comprehensive and detailed Election Programme has been prepared.

- Such an approach is crucial, because our people and our country have no time to waste, and the support of Labour in the entire process is of vital importance. Labour is one of the two strongest British parties, which has enormous infrastructure and a well-organised and widespread network throughout Great Britain. Through their work, they have written some of the brightest pages in the history of this country, and today they are going through periods of a new rise. Any help from this party to us, in the SDP, is welcome and will help in further strengthening our party infrastructure - added Prlić.