It is not a question, Minister Konaković, where you should have been, but who 'nabbed the tender calf'

By: Rasim Belko @rasimbelko

“Today I can confirm once again, every minute of this fight is worth it, every single one.
Regardless of all the spitting, lies, and sabotage.
Every minute is worth it.”

At one time, Elmedin Konaković, a former member of SDA, and today the leader of the People and Justice party and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a self-proclaimed fighter against corruption and crime, claimed that every minute of his fight would bring change. Five years later, that fight, it seems, has paid off – but not for the citizens, but for him and a close circle of his associates and friends.

From the beginning of his political career, Konaković built an image of a reformer, accusing his former colleagues from SDA of corruption and nepotism. One of his favorite targets was the company ZOI 84, the manager of Zetra and Bjelašnica.

He accused them of irregularities, talked about old cash registers without receipts and the ‘nabbed calf’ as a personification of selling goods outside of regulated legal channels.

However, we could have seen that Konaković is not what he presents himself to be from the very first days when People and Justice began to take over the political and all other levers of system management. The hunter became the hunted, and judging by the speed of accumulating scandals and the gravity of the accusations, the judiciary of Bosnia and Herzegovina must get involved in the hunt much more seriously.

When the former Minister of Communal Affairs of KS, Almir Bečarević, made accusations that Konaković himself had pressured Minister Bošnjak to allow further concreting of Bjelašnica, the bubbles in which the propaganda story about Sarajevo's Eliot Ness from the SDA classroom was packaged burst.

Konaković, who once threatened his political rivals with “hold on, here we come,” announcing the release of documentation from public companies and institutions, revealed to the general public with a single reaction how nervous the hunted are before the strike of investigative actions.

To Bečarević's claims, which were told to investigators and the public, Konaković, in the style of past jailers, threatened to publish his medical record. For a broader picture, let us recall that this is the same Konaković whom, just yesterday, European charlatans in diplomatic suits praised for progress on the EU path. And then Konaković showed how little he knows about the EU, so why would he know about their values.

And the leader of People and Justice has not been under attack for criminal acts for the first time.
His current partner SDP BiH openly accused Konaković in 2017 due to the debt of his private company “Sport Centar” to ZOI 84, and the removal of televisions. What happened to that debt and equipment – is unknown to the public.

Scandals replaced promises

Konaković's political mantra “hold on, here we come” sounded like a promise to crack down on corruption. Instead, his mandate as BiH's head of diplomacy will be remembered for numerous press conferences and media appearances in which he “cleared” friends and himself of any connection to their dealings.

After the publication of the scheme according to which Konaković had contacts with the super-cartel “Tito and Dino,” the “Black Tie” operation, for which he attacked the prosecution and the public because his close associates were arrested, the Incitat operation in which he is mentioned as someone who pressured Minister Bošnjak, Konaković found himself at the center of yet another scandal.

The latest scandal, which overshadowed the previous ones, is related to the failed EU-Western Balkans Summit in Neum. A company owned by the daughter of Konaković's godfather received the tender for organization, but a competitor's appeal overturned it. The Summit, a symbol of diplomatic importance for BiH, turned into an international disgrace.
Konaković had to “clear” himself again.

And while the head of diplomacy and the leader of People and Justice claimed that he had nothing to do with the organization of the Summit and that he was not even supposed to be there, the key question remains: how did a company without relevant experience get the job? Did Konaković, directly or indirectly, influence the selection of the contractor?

It is completely irrelevant whether Minister Konaković participated in the organization and whether he planned to attend the Summit, but what is important is that among the people responsible for the organization were people he trusted. More precisely, among others, the head of the Minister of Foreign Affairs' Cabinet was there.

And that is why the question is not, Minister Konaković, whether you should have been at the Summit, but who nabbed the tender calf and tried to push through the job to a company with much less experience than its competitors!

That is the answer the public expects.

And when it gets it, we hope from the judiciary as well, the public will be able to understand how Konaković transformed from a self-proclaimed “criminal exterminator” into a political figure whose scandals are becoming an increasing burden.

From Bjelašnica, where the construction mafia is concreting the forests, to international scandals like the summit in Neum.

Sarajevo's smog may cover many traces, but one thing is certain: answers to questions about tenders, scandals, and questionable deals cannot be avoided forever. Who actually “nabbed the tender calf,” and for whose benefit? That is the question we are waiting for an answer to!