Opposition to NAP: If Our Party is the Dam against HDZ, then we are in for trouble

(Patria) - Members of Our Party today lashed out at the opposition in the Federation of BiH, emphasizing that the removal of their Dragan Mioković from the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the FBiH would open the door to a complete concentration of power in the hands of HDZ BiH.

Anyone who votes for such a scenario, stated the head of the Our Party Club, Mirsad Čamdžić, at today's press conference in Sarajevo, must be aware of the political responsibility they are taking on.

- The opposition faces a choice between two political concepts, but also between two Dragan's: one who is ready to admit his mistake and apologize to the victims, and another who, without any hesitation, poses for photos with people who symbolize the darkest episodes of our past and with entertainment promoters of such politics - Čamdžić said, among other things.

We contacted the opposition representatives in the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the FBiH, who decisively rejected the unprovoked and completely unjustified criticism of Our Party against them. They also say it would have been more appropriate for Mioković to resign himself, both because of his clumsy statement about Bleiburg and because of the catastrophic management of the House.

Representative Alma Kratina (DF) says - if it weren't tragic, it would be funny.

- Listen, "we are opening the door to HDZ" by voting to remove Dragan Mioković. Do they mean in Our Party those doors that they themselves opened to HDZ long ago - both in the Constitutional Court by voting for Marin Vukoja, and with the unprecedented subservience of Dragan Mioković and Our Party to even the most trivial demands of Mladen Bošković and HDZ in the House of Representatives.

They are so servile that Mladen Bošković, from the position of deputy speaker, rarely even needs to react to defend HDZ's interests. A short conversation before the session, and a "nod" during the session is probably enough. Short and clear - Kratina said in a statement to the News Agency Patria (NAP).

And now, when Our Party defends the indefensible with the argument that "someone apologized," Kratina adds, they are asking for confidence in Mioković because otherwise this high house will be completely in the hands of HDZ.

- If Our Party is that dam, then we are in for trouble - Kratina concluded.


Alma Kratina

Jasmina Bišćević Tokić (SDA) emphasizes that someone needs to explain to Our Party that "the opposition gave nothing to Dragan", but that they themselves did.

- From Vukoja, member of the FTV Management Board, FBiH Roads, Environmental Protection Institute, FBiH Highways, Development Bank, and many other positions. The opposition is not in power, that's why it's called the opposition, we don't decide anything.

We have warned several times about the violation of the Constitution, laws, and rules of procedure, and everything was fine for them until their positions started to be threatened. As far as I know, their ministers sit in the Government with HDZ, and all decisions are unanimous.

Therefore, I invite them not to blame the opposition, because we do not decide anything, but to reach an agreement with their coalition partners with whom they are in power at both the state and federal levels - Bišćević Tokić told NAP.

Jasmina Bišćević Tokić

Dennis Gratz (DF) emphasizes that Mioković has been frantically visiting every media outlet for days, trying to sell the public a story that he is the victim of some great conspiracy.

- His removal has suddenly become a matter of the fate of the Federation, geopolitical balance, and probably climate change. In that senseless construction, of course, everyone is to blame, except him.

At the same time, today's statement by Our Party that the removal of Dragan Mioković will allegedly lead to "complete control of HDZ" over the FBiH is nothing more than an attempt to politically intimidate the public and a substitution of theses.

According to their logic, the problem is not the way the House of Representatives is managed, nor the standards of parliamentary work, but the very fact that someone dared to raise the issue of accountability. And that is a rather dangerous message for a parliamentary democracy - Gratz told NAP.

He considers it particularly cynical when such a story is spread by a party that has been in power with HDZ for years - at both the state and federal levels.

- Dragan Mioković himself was the key player in fulfilling every wish of his older and far wiser namesake, from the compromised constitutional judge Marin Vukoja to the appointment of the openly pro-Ustasha Zoran Krešić to the FTV Management Board.

Dragan Mioković has continuously, actively, and wholeheartedly defended all the "frogs" he had to swallow so that his senior years would be comfortable, easy, and pleasant - states Gratz.

He emphasizes that the House of Representatives is not anyone's private stage, and the position of speaker is not a lifelong privilege.

- It is time for our colleague Mioković to spare us his pathetic whining and take responsibility for the catastrophic management of the House, and above all for the stupid, unnecessary, shameful statement about the executed Croats at Bleiburg.

Therefore, the criticisms of Our Party and Dragan Mioković directed at the opposition, and primarily at the Democratic Front, are nonsense.

This whole dramatic story about the "two Dragan's" looks more like an attempt to desperately hold onto a position and privileges. After all, if we fail to remove both Dragan's tomorrow - that is a frog we are willing to swallow - Gratz concluded.


Dennis Gratz

Independent representative Admir Čavalić says he regrets that this issue will overshadow tomorrow's session of the House of Representatives, which has a set of financially and economically important laws on its agenda that will liberalize the financial market of the Federation of BiH and facilitate and improve the work of the federal and cantonal employment bureaus.

- We have entered the realm of politicking. I personally believe that he could have resigned after that statement. So, that statement carries such weight that it could have led to a resignation.

So, not a dismissal, nor to be in some tug-of-war over dismissal, but just a political resignation, and that would perhaps be most appropriate. However, that did not happen, and unfortunately, we have entered this tug-of-war over dismissal that will occupy the entire Parliament - Čavalić concluded.


Admir Čavalić

(D.K.)