Mostar meeting between Čović and Izetbegović: No room for optimism regarding the Election Law

MOSTAR, (Patria) - Delegations of HDZ BiH and SDA will hold a meeting at the HDZ House in Mostar to discuss current political topics. The delegations will be led by party presidents Dragan Čović and Bakir Izetbegović. 

On March 2nd, after the session of the HDZ BiH Presidency, Čović stated that the key topic would be amendments to the Election Law, in a package that respects all court decisions. 

"If we agree on the package that will resolve the Election Law on Wednesday, then it makes sense to work on it for another 15 or 20 days. We will assess on Wednesday whether there is anything to it or not. It will be known on Wednesday whether we are talking or have entered another phase," said Čović.

The HDZ president stated that elections in Mostar will be held, but the decision must be made by the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH.

After today's session of the SDA Collegium, Izetbegović was skeptical about tomorrow's meeting, expressing doubts that an agreement would be reached on the Election Law. The SDA president had previously proposed finding a solution for Mostar first, so that elections could finally be held in October this year, while working on other amendments in parallel, which Čović rejected. 

There are also other outstanding issues between SDA and HDZ BiH regarding the formation of the FBiH Government, given that HDZ does not want to start the process of forming the government until amendments to the Election Law are agreed upon. The international community, as well as the EU, have stated that the Election Law cannot be a condition for forming the government.