Mobilization of the voter base: Čović from Zagreb said that a civic BiH means an Islamic state

The Chairman of the BiH Presidency, Dragan Čović, gave a lecture today at the Zagreb School of Economics and Management titled "Bosnia and Herzegovina Today". He used this opportunity to inform those present about the organization of BiH as well as the "problems faced by Croats in BiH", writes the Patria agency. 

He emphasized on this occasion that the biggest problem is the election of legitimate representatives in power, and stated that it is therefore necessary to amend the Election Law as soon as possible, so that the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Croats can elect their own representatives.

He also spoke about the problem of youth emigration, but pointed out that the other two peoples in BiH have the same problem. In the end, he said that it is necessary to create conditions and motivate young people to stay in their homeland. However, Čović did not give any examples of how to do this. But spreading nationalist narratives and creating fear of the other two constituent peoples, especially the more numerous Bosniaks, is not the direction to go.

Has Čović forgotten that according to the 2013 Census, there are 544,000 Croats in BiH, and more than 1.7 million Bosniaks. The departure of young people from one and the other people cannot be equated in any way. Five years after the Census, no one knows the numerical status of the constituent peoples in BiH and how many people have emigrated precisely because of such a political situation in BiH. It is no longer about the departure of young people, but of entire families who do not want to listen to stories about "war, secession, a third entity, endangerment, majorization..."

The fact that Čović has already seriously entered the "national election campaign" is shown by today's statement where he accused Bosniaks of creating an "Islamic state". 

- Those who want a civic state, I respect them, but today in Bosnia and Herzegovina, saying a civic state means classic unitarism, in some form, a theoretical form, and that basically means an Islamic state. What someone turned it into a caliphate or gave a different connotation to my entire expression. In this way, we talk when we are in Brussels, but I will also talk like this when I am with Mr. Erdogan. So, there are no secrets or anything behind the scenes. Perhaps it is the least I should say about this in this way. We must resolve these issues domestically, BiH will survive as long as the legitimate representatives of the constituent peoples form the government. One people cannot elect representatives for another, neither in the Presidency nor in the House of Peoples. BiH has its specificities and they must be fully respected - said Čović.

Čović also used his visit to Zagreb for a meeting with Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović, from whom he again sought support for changes to the election law, even though it is an internal issue of BiH. 

In his race for the BiH Presidency, Čović announced the "mobilization of the Croatian electorate", including those from Croatia with dual citizenship. Čović did not speak about the legitimacy of such elected representatives of Croats in BiH. But we will surely hear more about further ethnic, territorial, and all other divisions from the "legitimate representative of Croats".

(A.V.)