Negotiations on unblocking the Federation of BiH to continue, SDA must be more responsible, and SBB less nervous

By: Ernad Metaj

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SDA did not obstruct the talks on unblocking the Federation of BiH; rather, a technical misunderstanding occurred that could have been quickly resolved if there had been political will on the part of those who tried to turn it into a public spectacle, SDA said. Due to the cancellation of today's meeting, the continuation of talks on this topic scheduled for tomorrow at the EU Delegation has also been cancelled.

"I was in the Parliament, but I was not invited to that meeting. No one from the SDA Club was invited, and we would have come and could have come. We could have come even when it was questioned whether the secretary of the House of Peoples of the Federation of BiH, Izmir Hadžiavdić, should and could speak on behalf of SDA," Mirsad Zaimović, Chairman of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH, told Patria.

Hadžiavdić also believes a misunderstanding occurred.

"The agreement at the meeting with representatives of the international community, which I also attended without other SDA members, was that we would meet in that composition. No one objected then that there were no other SDA members besides me, because the problem of blockades in the Federation of BiH needed to be resolved at an expert level," Hadžiavdić said.

Today's scheduled meeting was interrupted after SBB representative Sanela Prašović Gadžo questioned whether Hadžiavdić, as a civil servant, could and should represent SDA's positions. Some media later reported that representatives of Naša stranka also left the meeting. Hadžiavdić claims that SDA representatives could have arrived within fifteen minutes.

"The problem is that this possibility was raised after Ms. Prašović left, and it was pointless to continue the talks. SDA made a mistake; I respect Mr. Hadžiavdić, but he himself admitted that he cannot speak about political solutions, and HDZ was offering precisely such solutions," Milan Dunović (DF), Vice President of the Federation of BiH, told Patria.

According to Zaimović, formally, HDZ was supposed to be the host of the meeting with representatives of the international community. He accepts SDA's responsibility for the misunderstanding because he believes a political representative should have been present, but he considers unjustified the tendentious attempts by SBB to continuously portray this party in public as part of the problem in the talks.

Objectively, the problem is that HDZ, when discussing the unblocking, does not adhere exclusively to the expert solutions that exist, which were also proposed by the now-controversial Hadžiavdić. While most understand that it is important to ensure the functionality of decisions between the two houses of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH, HDZ is trying to offer new blockades as a solution.

"They still insist on the Ljubić ruling, even though the Constitution of the Federation of BiH has a provision that makes elections implementable by electing at least one delegate from each canton to the House of Peoples, provided they are elected to the cantonal Assembly. HDZ Vice President Borjana Krišto withdrew her appeal to the Constitutional Court of BiH, which would have questioned the provisions of the Constitution of the Federation of BiH, because she realized her appeal would be rejected," Dunović believes.

Now HDZ is going a step further and demanding that the Vice President of the Government of the Federation of BiH be able to stop any decision of this executive body. Additionally, they want to make the election of judges to the Constitutional Court more difficult, for which, under current regulations, a simple majority in the House of Peoples of those present and voting is sufficient.

Today's interrupted talks should be reorganized. Zaimović has taken on the obligation, and the meeting should be held by Friday. By then, SDA should show more responsibility, and SBB less nervousness, because for citizens, finding solutions is more important than mutual accusations by politicians.