I don't understand how anyone from Bakir's cabinet can ask Bosniaks to vote for Željka Cvijanović

The people in Bosnia and Herzegovina are hungry. I saw that both in the entity of Republika Srpska and in the Federation of BiH. Dodik is trying in vain to divert attention from that with his election campaign, but he is not succeeding. The same is true in the Federation of BiH, said Emir Suljagić, candidate for the Bosniak member of the Presidency of BiH in the upcoming elections in BiH, from the political party Democratic Front of Željko Komšić, in an interview with the Bosnian news agency Patria.

- After the February protests and the May floods, the ruling political elite showed that they cannot solve the real problems of these people, and that, to put it in common parlance, they have lost their way - said Suljagić.

Suljagić says that he saw in the eyes of his people that they are fed up with political power brokers. The people, he is sure, need more than ever politicians who are hardworking and work from morning till night, and who will bring prosperity and justice to this country. That is why he accepted the candidacy for the Bosniak member of the Presidency of BiH.

Patria: Polls on many internet portals say that you have the best chance to replace Bakir Izetbegović in the Presidency of BiH?

Suljagić: Elections are won at the polls, not in surveys. I don't pay attention to those polls. And I will defeat Izetbegović because I am more hardworking, because, as my mother would say, I am diligent, and because I have visited more people in this country, talked to more people, and done more for this country and these people than Bakir Izetbegović. For example, during the floods in the country, I did not fly over flooded areas by helicopter, but shared the suffering with my people.

Patria: Many criticize that the Presidency of BiH is a position from which not much can be done. How do you view this institution and why is it important to you?

Suljagić: Regardless of the lack of powers from that position, a lot can be done for Bosnia and Herzegovina from the Presidency of BiH. You just need to want and know how to work. Besides, this function carries symbolic weight. Keep in mind that the Presidency of BiH is the only governing body that survived the aggression from 1992 to 1995 under the same name, and more or less even in the form it existed before the war in this country.

Patria: What can you personally offer Bosniaks from the position of member of the Presidency of BiH?

Suljagić: I existed outside the borders of Bosnia and Herzegovina even before entering politics. I have many friends in international institutions, primarily because I was a journalist. I worked for a long time with the International Tribunal in The Hague. In every relevant country at this moment, there is at least one newsroom of relevant media where I have friends and with whom I can talk at any time. Many important people from the United States Congress are my personal friends. As a member of the Presidency of BiH, I will put that part of my biography at the disposal of my country.

Furthermore, we, as a group of people from the meadow, managed to organize the project "I will vote for Srebrenica", then the coalition "First March" and then "I will vote for the homeland". So, if there is a will, there is no obstacle to doing something.

Patria: The rush for the Presidency is great, some influential people in BiH are appearing as candidates. How strong or weak are they as opponents?

Suljagić: I think the time has come for ordinary Bosnia and Herzegovina. Enough of leaders, elites, people who pound their fists on the table. Now is the time for people who are used to working, who work from morning till night, who know how to earn a piece of bread, and it is time for them to start making decisions for this country.

Patria: With whom will you build BiH when it comes to the other two peoples?

Suljagić: I only know that I will not seek interlocutors among people who spent 1.6 million KM on denying genocide. Activists of Bakir Izetbegović's campaign are asking Bosniaks living in Republika Srpska to give their vote for the member of the Presidency of BiH on October 12 to Željka Cvijanović, a woman who personally spent 1.6 million KM on denying the genocide in Srebrenica. I don't understand how anyone from the SDA or from Izetbegović's cabinet, after those facts, can again ask Bosniaks to support Željka Cvijanović.