SDP lists full of appointed and elected officials: Assembly deputies, directors, members of management and supervisory boards...

(Patria) - The Central Election Commission has begun verifying candidate lists and candidates who meet the legally prescribed conditions for the upcoming Local Elections, which will be held on October 6.

For 68 candidate lists, it was determined that they have deficiencies and irregularities (gender representation not in accordance with the law, withdrawal of candidacy, candidate does not have residence in the electoral unit for which they are running, and others).

In order to fill the candidate lists, the SDP resorted to the method of placing candidates who already hold some function on the list. Thus, the candidate lists are full of assembly deputies, members of management and supervisory boards, directors of institutions…

The idea came from the president of SDP BiH, Nermin Nikšić, who demanded that appointed persons must be on the list. While some accepted, others refused to be on the list, and there were also last-minute withdrawals.

On the list for the Novi Grad Municipal Council, there was a duplication of names, meaning candidates are already on another list, so the CEC requested that the SDP correct the candidate list. On the list for Novi Grad, there are only a few familiar names, and the list holder is the compromised former director of the JU Dom zdravlja KS, Abel Baltić, who is also the acting president of the SDP Novi Grad Municipal Board. A good part of the membership was not interested in being on the list led by Baltić and ignored the party leadership's efforts to resolve problems within this municipal organization.

On the same list is Damir Filipović, a former minister in the Government of the Sarajevo Canton, and now director of the newly formed Public Enterprise of the Stari Grad Municipality.

On the list is the former candidate for mayor of Novi Grad Municipality, Edita Sulejmanović, and Enid Tahirović, who, after "consultations" with Minister Kenan Magoda, obtained the position of director of Hotel Walter (formerly Emiran).

Also on the list is Ženja Lubuškić, who was first appointed to the Supervisory Board of JP Elektroprivreda BiH, and after leaving that position because he did not meet the requirements, he was appointed to the Supervisory Board of Lutrija BiH.

At the last position on the list for Novi Grad is Ajša Bajraktarević, who is a current councilor in the Novi Grad Municipal Council.

For the Novo Sarajevo Municipal Council, the list was submitted at the last minute due to changes in candidates on the list. Some candidates withdrew, some suddenly received better positions on the list due to lobbying by the Mayor of Sarajevo, Benjamina Karić, who is also the SDP candidate for mayor of Novo Sarajevo Municipality.

On the list for the Centar Municipal Council, there is a larger number of familiar names. The list holder is the current deputy in the Assembly of the Sarajevo Canton, Belma Kapo. On the list are also the current councilor in Centar, Benjamin Isović, and Dragan Stevanović, who is also a member of the Temporary Management Board of KCUS, as well as another assembly deputy, Vedrana Vikić-Musić.

At number 10 is the director of the Tourist Association of the Sarajevo Canton, Haris Fazlagić, director Feđa Isović, and appellant before the European Court of Human Rights, Dervo Sejdić.

Regarding the candidate list for the Ilidža Municipal Council, Slobodan Šoja is on the list. He also serves as acting member of the Management Board of the JU Museum of Sarajevo.

Šoja is a former diplomat of BiH, and in 2022 he was one of the observers of the so-called referendum on annexation to the Russian Federation, which was held in the occupied regions of Ukraine.

In 2015, Šoja did not receive support from the SDP to be a candidate for Vice President of the Federation of BiH. He was criticized for his closeness to the SNSD because it was precisely the member of the Presidency of BiH, Nebojša Radmanović, who nominated him for ambassadorial positions.

What has changed in the meantime should be answered by those who offered him to be a candidate.

In this context, one should also recall the Law on Prevention and Suppression of Corruption in the Sarajevo Canton, which came into force on January 1, 2023, and which prohibits the simultaneous performance of multiple public functions.

In the event that any of the current holders of public office who are on the SDP candidate list receives a mandate, they will have to decide whether to accept the mandate and leave their previous position or to refuse the mandate, which will be awarded to the next person on the list.