New action by international officials: NES and SBiH at OHR on Tuesday, Murphy in charge of 'Ninety'

(Patria) - The OHR on Tuesday begins a new round of consultations with the leaders of the 'eighth' parties and HDZ BiH regarding a potential decision by the High Representative that would bypass Federation Vice President Refik Lendo in the formation of the new Federation of BiH Government, writes Istraga.ba.

The leaders, as Istraga has learned, have been invited to separate meetings with OHR expert teams preparing a decision that Christian Schmidt, according to announcements, is expected to impose next week.

"The meetings are organized to exert additional pressure on the leaders of NES and SBiH who do not want one-off decisions from the OHR," states an Istraga source from the International Community.

In parallel with the OHR's actions, US Ambassador Michael Murphy is also active. He has already scheduled a meeting for this week with Ilija Cvitanović, president of HDZ 1990, a party that could play a decisive role in the formation of the Federation of BiH Government, Istraga has learned.

Precisely because of the actions of international officials, the leaders of SDP and HDZ, Nermin Nikšić and Dragan Čović, refused the invitation of Federation Vice President Refik Lendo, at which the current political crisis was to be resolved.

Christian Schmidt, we remind you, announced before the Easter holidays that he would have to act if an agreement was not reached. But Čović and Nikšić refused to meet with SDA president Bakir Izetbegović, on whose cadre, Refik Lendo, the formation of the new Federation of BiH Government depends.

At this moment, the parliamentary majority in the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH, which confirms the formation of the Government, is not clearly defined. 50 votes are needed to confirm the Government. HDZ and SDP each have 15 deputies, NiP has 7, Naša stranka has 6, PDA and BHI Fuad Kasumović each have one, NES has five (including Arnel Isak), SBiH has four.

In total, these parties have 54 votes, which is enough to confirm the FBiH Government. However, NES and SBiH have previously stated that they will not be part of the parliamentary majority if the OHR, with a one-off decision, not a permanent amendment to the FBiH Constitution, "bypasses" the signature of Refik Lendo, the Federation's vice president from the Bosniak people. Without NES and SBiH, HDZ and the parties of the Trojka (SDP, NS, and NiP), reinforced by Kukić's PDA and Kasumović's BHI, remain with 45 mandates, which is not enough to confirm the new composition of the FBiH Government. Therefore, the role of HDZ 1990, which has three deputies, and HNP, a party founded by former HDZ members from Livno, is important. With Devedesetka and HNP, HDZ BiH and the Trojka parties would reach 49 votes. And even then, it would not be enough, so they would have to seek support from the Croatian Republican Party (HRS), which has one federal deputy, and Bihać's POMAK, which also has one deputy.

This is precisely why US Ambassador Michael Murphy plans to have a meeting with the president of Devedesetka, Ilija Cvitanović, this week, whose party is a member of the Croatian National Assembly, but not an integral part of the parliamentary majority gathered around HDZ BiH.

We remind you that the president of HDZ BiH, Dragan Čović, announced that no permanent decision from the OHR is in question. This means that High Representative Christian Schmidt must not change the provision of the FBiH Constitution that stipulates that the Federation of BiH Government is appointed by the president with the consent of the two vice presidents. Čović demands that Schmidt's decision be a one-off, meaning that it only excludes the consent of Vice President Refik Lendo at this moment. However, as we have already stated, NES and SBiH do not support this option. Although the leaders of NiP and SDP, Elmedin Konaković and Nermin Nikšić, previously claimed that they do not support one-off solutions, they have since changed their minds. And now it is acceptable to them that Schmidt temporarily suspends the constitutional provision regarding the appointment of the Government solely for the needs of the coalition gathered around HDZ BiH. Naša stranka, as the third partner from the Trojka, has not opposed one-off solutions insisted upon by HDZ BiH from the beginning.