Snow doesn't fall to cover the hill, but to expose the government: Eight years of chaos, party employment, and evading responsibility

(Patria) - Just a few snowflakes have exposed eight years of improvisation in Sarajevo Canton (KS), says SDA MP in the KS Assembly, Faruk Selmanović, in an interview with the Patria News Agency (NAP).

- We no longer need reports or analyses. It is enough, after almost eight years in power, to look at the results of this "Frankenstein coalition". Because, no matter how much they tell us today that we are exaggerating or lying, the numbers do not lie - states Selmanović.

He emphasizes that Sarajevo Canton is indebted by about 800 million convertible marks, with an inherited deficit of approximately 280 million. The total debt has exceeded one billion.

- And this in a Canton that has been self-proclaimed as the "center of prosperity" for years. If prosperity is their main value, then it is fair to say what kind: prosperity of wrong decisions, improvisation, and systemic evasion of responsibility.

We are, therefore, talking about a "government of prosperity" that, in almost two full terms, has not seriously started to solve the problem of air pollution. Citizens of Sarajevo Canton literally breathe the consequences of this incompetence every winter.

We are also talking about a "government of progress" that has been unable to ensure even the basic continuity of heating in Vogošća for years, but has perfectly organized the progress of excuses, shifting blame, and institutional silence - points out Selmanović.

This is also, according to our interlocutor, a "government of return" that has never treated young people as a real priority, except in pre-election slogans. Incentives for the purchase of the first property have not been announced since 2023, and those who were entitled to them then only received the money in 2026.

- In the meantime, the education system has been systematically undermined, from primary and secondary education to the University of Sarajevo, which is sinking in relevant rankings, along with arrests, financial anomalies, and serious doubts about the legality of leadership appointments.

In addition to all this, this is also, as far as is known, the only government in the democratic world where a third of the ministers have been, are, or will be arrested, and the prime minister has never felt the need to resign.

And perhaps the state of Sarajevo Canton is nowhere more evident than in these so-called "meritocratic values" that are measured today through court files and detention records.

That is, therefore, that famous "government of continuity". Continuity of scandals, lack of transparency, and selective competence. Because, consider the paradox, they can easily organize forestry competitions, exotic trips to Dubai, and declare secret contracts, but they cannot organize basic public services for which the government exists in the first place - says Selmanović.

Trams have been procured that, as he said, stop at the first serious snow, and trolleybuses that are more often out of order than in operation, and which, ironically, very often cannot even reach "cold" Vogošća.

- That is why the snow did not fall to cover the hill. It fell to expose the truth. To show everything that the Trojka has been trying to hide for years: a complete lack of knowledge, responsibility, and basic ability to manage Sarajevo Canton.

To be clear, snow in Sarajevo is not a surprise. It never has been. It is a regular occurrence. The problem is the government that has been behaving for eight years as if every winter is a natural disaster, to which one responds with "salt and shovels".

So, these days, while the streets were uncleaned, public transport was non-functional, and citizens were left to themselves, we witnessed political performances by the Government of Sarajevo Canton in which the prime minister speaks of "joint responsibility", ministers disappear from public view, and directors of public companies do not do what they are paid for.

All while their party loyalists and collaborators bang shovels on the asphalt in the hope of hiding their shame and complicity.

The numbers speak again here. Public and utility companies that were operating profitably in 2018 are now in deep losses. Debts are growing, subsidies are increasing, and the quality of service is continuously declining. This has nothing to do with snow, or winter, or the "inherited situation".

This is a direct consequence of bad personnel decisions, "brilliant" IT solutions, party employment, and bringing in people without knowledge and experience, but with the "right" party card and even better connections - notes Selmanović.

He characterized the behavior of those who are the backbone of the Trojka and the ideologues of the alleged "new political order" as particularly hypocritical, who today behave as if they are not part of the same government.

- They issue statements, feign surprise, and try to hide behind paper. Completely ignoring the fact that, with or without Instagram posts about cleaning 30 meters of road, the problems remain. Because a system is not built with photographs.

In the absence of ideas, the Trojka resorts to what they know best - spin. Thus, we have come to the point where they feign surprise that a candidate who was fourth on the ranking list became director. Essentially, while some are shoveling for the cameras, and others are announcing meetings and "determining responsibility", everyone rightly asks: are these people even capable of performing the functions they have been appointed to?

This is not about seeking "joint responsibility". This is about seeking concrete, political, and personal responsibility. Anything else is an insult to common sense. Because, salt may melt ice, but not even all the alchemy of the Trojka and others, in which incompetence is turned into PR, can wash away eight years of chaos, party employment, and deliberate evasion of responsibility.

In the end, the snow only exposed what citizens have known for a long time - concluded Selmanović in an interview with NAP.

(D.K.)