Coalition Relations and Pre-election Campaign Halt BiH Presidency Work!?

The last regular session of the BiH Presidency was held on July 28, 2016. According to the official website of the BiH Presidency, sessions were held up to three times a month, so it is surprising that the month of August passed without sessions of the state leadership, writes the BiH news agency Patria.

The reasons for this should be sought in the relationship between the members of the BiH Presidency whose parties are in a coalition at the state level: SDA, HDZ BiH, and PDP, and the first two also at the FBiH level.

Bakir Izetbegović (SDA), Dragan Čović (HDZ BiH), and Mladen Ivanić (honorary president of PDP) have, for who knows what time, put their party before the state.

At the end of July, the relationship between Izetbegović and Čović became complicated due to the Coordination Mechanism agreed upon with Milorad Dodik, the President of Republika Srpska, so last month was marked by the "reconciliation of angry partners" who exchanged messages exclusively through the media. It is obvious that during that period there was neither the will nor the desire to hold a session, which is convened by the chairman by duty, and that is Bakir Izetbegović until November 17.

It is interesting that Čović recently said that he wished the relations in FBiH functioned as the members of the Presidency do, because every decision was considered and unanimously adopted. On the other hand, the failure to hold sessions shows that the relations are no longer like that.  

It is now more than clear that all of this affects the functioning of the state. Izetbegović also spoke about this context earlier, and when asked if members of the Presidency should be banned from holding party positions, he said it would be "good.".

- We should all do what the Constitution obliges us to do, to represent all citizens, so that our actions do not reflect party or national affiliation as much as possible - said Izetbegović, but he obviously forgot his words very quickly.

The failure to hold sessions at a time when the referendum in RS on January 9th was announced, when calls for further division of BiH are heard more and more loudly, and the revival of the so-called HZHB shows that Izetbegović, Čović, and Ivanić have forgotten whom and what they should represent.

Even after the meeting between the three coalition partners Izetbegović, Čović, and Fahrudin Radončić (SBB) in the BiH Presidency building, the political situation did not improve. In that temporal passage from meeting to meeting, Čović managed to support Dodik for the referendum, thus further strengthening his friendly ties.

According to the rules of procedure, members of the Presidency can declare a decision destructive to the vital interest of the entity from which they were elected, and they can initiate proceedings before the Constitutional Court of BiH. Izetbegović used this right, asking the Constitutional Court of BiH to resolve the constitutional-legal dispute with RS due to the referendum.

At the same time, Čović visited countries in the region, and his trip ended in Belgrade with Vučić. On the same day, slightly earlier, Dodik, Željka Cvijanović, Mladen Bosić, and Ivanić were in consultations with Tomislav Nikolić and Vučić regarding the referendum in RS. On that day, two out of three members of the state leadership, who according to the Constitution should represent all citizens of BiH, were in Serbia.

Ivanić said after the meeting:

- We must preserve dignity, and we want to return to the policy of compromise, but, believe me, Serbs cannot do it alone. They must understand this, especially the representatives of the Bosniak people, to stop provoking things that are very important to us and to understand that the time of arrogance is over - said Ivanić.

Čović, explaining his visit to Belgrade, said that the meeting was burdened by the issue of the referendum in RS.

- I was aware of how there would be different comments about my talks in Belgrade, but it was the only way to stabilize internal relations in BiH and the situation in the environment - said Čović, who also discussed the strained relations between Croatia and Serbia with Vučić.

The next day, September 2, the pre-election campaign officially began in BiH, which, according to the political situation, had started long before.

Political leaders, after touring the countries of the region, and even further, are now visiting cities, municipalities, villages, hamlets, and local communities, promising what they themselves do not believe in. As our people would say: "A promise is a fool's joy" because by October 3rd, no one will ask the people anything.