Read the initiative that triggered an avalanche: What the people of Tuzla demand from Lagumdžija

The Tuzla branch of the SDP has sent an initiative to the SDP president, the SDP Main Board and the SDP Presidency for convening and holding an emergency session of the Main Board, making a decision on holding an Extraordinary Congress of the SDP BiH and determining a proposal for congress documents (amendments to the SDP BiH Statute), writes the Bosnian news agency Patria. 

We are publishing the initiative in its entirety without any corrections. 

Under Article 53, paragraph 1 of the SDP BiH Statute, it is stipulated that an Extraordinary Congress of the SDP BiH is convened when the Main Board of the SDP BiH deems it necessary due to exceptional circumstances in BiH or in the SDP.

The catastrophic result of the general elections held on October 12, 2014, has led to extremely difficult circumstances in the SDP BiH. The Social Democratic Party of BiH is on the brink of the abyss; our Party is threatened with disappearance from the political scene, and tens of thousands of SDP members expect an urgent turnaround and democratization of the SDP. Tens of thousands of SDP BiH members expect an immediate end to decision-making by individuals or groups, which resembles tyranny, not democracy.

The membership expects to be directly involved in deciding on the election of the SDP president and to be consulted on important issues through referendums. This practice of social democratic and other democratic parties in Europe should be prescribed by the SDP BiH Statute, implemented in practice, and only then will the SDP BiH be able to be considered a democratic party. In addition, the Presidency of the SDP BiH has already adopted the document "Strengthening the Internal Party Structure of the SDP," proposed by the Council for the Development of the SDP BiH, whose president is Karlo Filipović, and forwarded it to the Main Board for adoption. Currently, in one part of the leadership, an atmosphere is being created for the urgent convening of the Congress, the swift dismissal of the SDP president, and an even faster election of a new president by the Congress delegates.

Such a practice of a kind of rigging of the winner at the Congress has led the SDP into this situation. In our opinion, if the Main Board opts for such a decision, which is in the interest of one or more specific individuals, and not in the interest of the party, it will lead to major divisions, conflicts, and the deepening of the already greatest crisis of the SDP BiH.

Our proposal, as well as the proposal of the Council for the Development of the SDP adopted by the Presidency of BiH, envisages the urgent convening of an Extraordinary Congress by the end of this year, solely for the purpose of amending the SDP BiH Statute, so that all SDP members elect the president of the SDP BiH (as in Germany, France, Croatia, etc.). At the same Congress, direct elections for the president of the SDP BiH would be scheduled within 60 days (so that within thirty days the SDP membership records are updated, voter lists are made, election commissions are elected, candidacies are collected, etc., and the other 30 days are reserved for the candidates' campaign).

After the election of the SDP president, another Congress would be scheduled at which the Main Board and other bodies and officials of the SDP would be elected. Everything could be completed by the end of the first quarter of next year.  Therefore, we propose amending the SDP BiH Statute and enabling all SDP members to elect the president of the SDP BiH in direct elections. This proposal, at the same time, allows for the candidacy of a large number of candidates and the direct election of the person whom the SDP BiH membership wants as president.

Activities in this direction would receive support from the membership and the public and would enable the strengthening and mobilization of the entire membership, instead of the threatening disintegration. Everything would happen in a democratic way without internal conflicts and exposing the president or some members of the innermost leadership of the SDP to unpleasantness, who undoubtedly bear the greatest responsibility for the SDP's debacle in the elections.   

Therefore, based on Article 62, in connection with Articles 53 and 56 of the Statute of the SDP BiH – the Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina, we submit the following initiatives:

1. Scheduling and holding an EMERGENCY session of the Main Board of the SDP BiH.

2. Adopting a Decision on holding an Extraordinary Congress of the SDP BiH, no later than December 2014.

3. Determining the proposal for congress documents:

- Amendments to the Statute of the SDP BiH

- Scheduling elections for the president of the SDP BiH for February 22 (Sunday) or March 1 (Sunday) 2015.   

- Scheduling a Congress for the presentation of the program of the president of the SDP BiH and the election of the Main Board and other bodies and officials of the SDP, no later than forty days from the day of the election of the president of the SDP BiH in direct elections.

Explanation

1. Article 62 of the SDP BiH Statute stipulates that "at the request of the president of the SDP BiH, the Presidency of the SDP BiH, or twenty members of the Main Board, the president of the Main Board of the SDP BiH is obliged to convene an EMERGENCY session of the Main Board of the SDP BiH and place on the agenda the issues requested by the submitters of the request."

We believe that by convening an EMERGENCY session, the Main Board of the SDP BiH will show seriousness towards the current situation we are in. Holding a session with clear democratic messages, in the form of making important decisions, including those (amendments to the Statute) that will enable every SDP member to elect their president directly, rather than by about 500 hand-picked people at the Congress from among the candidates for president, will restore the shaken trust in the SDP as a party with the highest democratic standards. The SDP could, overnight, become the only democratic party in BiH, thereby gaining the respect of the entire membership and the wider public.

Therefore, we hope that the President of the SDP BiH and the Presidency of the SDP BiH will propose holding an EMERGENCY session of the highest body of the SDP BiH between two Congresses in accordance with Article 62 of the SDP BiH Statute.

2. Article 53, paragraph 1 of the SDP BiH Statute stipulates that an Extraordinary Congress of the SDP BiH is convened when the Main Board of the SDP deems it necessary due to exceptional circumstances in the state of BiH or in the SDP.

Paragraph 2 of Article 53 of the Statute stipulates that the decision to hold an Extraordinary Congress is made by the Main Board by a 2/3 majority of the total number of members of the Main Board.

Article 53, paragraph 3 of the Statute stipulates that the Extraordinary Congress is convened by the President of the SDP BiH, and paragraph 4 of the same article stipulates that "the president of the SDP BiH is obliged to convene an Extraordinary Congress of the SDP BiH also when requested to do so by one-fifth of the municipal boards of the SDP BiH, out of the total number of municipal boards of the SDP BiH from at least three different cantonal/regional organizations."

The reasons why we propose holding an extraordinary Congress have been explained above, so we hope that the Main Board of the SDP BiH, due to the exceptional circumstances in the SDP BiH, will make a decision to hold an Extraordinary Congress and request the President of the SDP BiH to convene an Extraordinary Congress in accordance with Article 54 of the SDP BiH Statute, no later than 30 days from the day of the adoption of the Decision of the Main Board of BiH or no later than December this year.

3. Article 56, paragraph 1, items 3 and 6 stipulate that the Main Board of the SDP BiH:

- "by a majority of the elected members of the Main Board of the SDP BiH (hereinafter: qualified majority) determines the proposal of the Program and Statute of the SDP BiH" and their amendments,

- and that it "determines proposals for congress documents."

We believe that the basic document and reason for convening the Congress should be the AMENDMENTS TO THE STATUTE OF THE SDP BiH, as the highest document establishing the rights and obligations of all members of the SDP BiH.

The goal of this amendment should be the democratization of the SDP, in a way that all members of the SDP BiH elect the president of the SDP BiH in direct elections.

We propose the following solutions, which the Statutory Commission of the SDP BiH would incorporate into the amendments to the SDP BiH Statute:

1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1.1. Direct elections in the SDP BiH are conducted for the election of the President of the SDP BiH.

1.2. All members of the SDP BiH have the right to participate in the election of the SDP president, in accordance with the Statute and Rules adopted by the Main Board.

1.3. Any person who has been a member of the SDP BiH for at least five years can be a candidate for president of the SDP BiH.

1.4. A member of the SDP who has so far been president of the SDP BiH for two or more terms cannot be a candidate for president of the SDP BiH.    

1. 5. The rules on the method of candidacy and conduct of elections are adopted by the Main Board of the SDP BiH.

The provisions on calling elections, bodies for conducting elections, polling stations, compiling voter lists, as well as the provisions of the SDP BiH Statute that need to be changed in order to implement the statutory solutions from points 1 to 5, will be prepared by the Main Board of the SDP BiH and the Statutory Commission, by the holding of the emergency and Extraordinary Congress this year.