Nikšić: BiH is above all parties and authorities, SDP will never be against the state's interests

It is becoming disgusting how some people from outside BiH are meddling in BiH and redrawing internal borders. I mean everyone in the European Parliament who is doing this, not just Croatian MEPs, stated Nermin Nikšić, SDP president, for N1, Patria reports.

SDP often says that if concessions to Dragan Čović continue, we will enter 2017 with three entities.

- The whole story boils down to how and when what was obviously agreed upon will be realized. SDA has only now become aware of where the concessions to Čović are leading. What we heard at the HNS session from Čović and Ljubić is nothing more than what Boban failed to achieve in the war, and now they want to resolve it with pen and paper. They are meddling with redrawing borders within BiH, instead of addressing the vital life issues for the citizens of BiH - Nikšić believes. 

The SDP president reminded that his party called on Čović and Izetbegović two years ago to state what they had agreed upon, but they refused.

- Čović later said several times that Izetbegović had backed down from what they had agreed in Mostar regarding the two electoral units in that city. Bakir Izetbegović never denied it. It is not legitimate to deceive citizens - Nikšić stated.

There was more of BiH during SDP's rule than ever during SDA's rule

SDP, to a large extent, through its exclusive and rigid behavior in the process of implementing the 2010 election results, led to the weakening of alternative political forces among BiH Croats.

- SDA is the last one that can lecture SDP. They were also part of the government with SDP at that time. We want to be a party for all citizens of BiH, and everyone with a suitable program for BiH is welcome to cooperate with SDP. There was more of BiH when SDP was in power than there ever was when SDA was in power.

Will the 'left' unite in the General Elections in 2018?

- I am convinced that it will. The fact is that left-wing bloc parties SDP, DF, and GS are working intensively on aligning their views and developing a joint program. We hope for a single political entity that will contest the 2018 elections as the left wing. We include Naša stranka and all other parties that speak of BiH as a whole country with a clear program for solving numerous problems - Nikšić told N1.

The guest of "Dan uživo" said that citizens today are more aware than ever of the situation and the authorities.

- It seems to me that today we have growing support for the unification of the left. In the elections when SDP lost, the left wing was divided then, and voters were disoriented. When you add up the results of SDP and DF, it's the result when SDP won. Some voters also punished us by not voting - Nikšić believes.

When asked what he expects from the criminal charges filed by SDP, DF, and GS against those responsible for the illegal use of the BiH Armed Forces on the Day of Republika Srpska, Nikšić said that he "expects the Prosecutor's Office to do its job because only they can assess whether the report is valid."

The European Parliament resolution on BiH in Brussels?

- It is becoming disgusting how some people from outside BiH are meddling in BiH and redrawing internal borders. I mean everyone in the EP who is doing this, not just Croatian MEPs. This is the wrong path, and I don't think this is how BiH is being helped. BiH can be helped by strengthening the rule of law and the economy and by faster EU membership for BiH, not by divisions and some three entities. Let them leave BiH and all of us in BiH alone. We need to focus on real-life problems, not further divisions.

The court in Strasbourg clearly established that there is discrimination among citizens in BiH, Nikšić reminded.

- Others are discriminated against throughout BiH, Serbs in FBiH, and Bosniaks and Croats in RS. No federalization will solve this issue. Dragan Čović's narrative has nothing to do with this narrative of inequality; rather, he wants the Croatian member of the BiH Presidency to be from HDZ every time.

Will the SDA-SBB coalition survive?

- We have a minority government; it's just a matter of when each party left the government. SDP is in opposition this term; we understood the message from the citizens in 2014. We are preparing for next year's elections. The current government exists, but above the government and the parties, there is BiH. SDP will never be against the state's interests," Nikšić concluded.