Raguž for NAP: How much Čović helped Stolac is best known by the Croats leaving the town

Member of the BiH Presidency from the Croatian people Dragan Čović has been declared an honorary citizen of Stolac. This decision was made by the Municipal Council in Stolac thanks to the votes of nine councilors from HDZ BiH, while seven councilors from HDZ 1990 and the Initiative for Stolac were against.

As one of the reasons for this decision, the Council cited „the exceptional support of Dragan Čović for the financial sustainability of the town on the Bregava in the past years.“

Nerin Dizdar, a member of the Main Board of SDP BiH who lives in Stolac, previously told the Patria agency that this move by the local HDZ confirmed “that HDZ BiH is actually the most radical neo-communist party in the country, which shamelessly glorifies the cult of personality,“ and, Dizdar added, „in a municipality where HDZ has ensured that even Mehmedalija Mak Dizdar does not have a street, but Dragan Čović, who does not even respect the decisions of the Constitutional Court, receives recognition.“ 

On the other hand, civic activist Luka Raguž comments for NAP that the very reason for awarding the title of honorary citizen of Stolac - due to contributions to the economic situation in this municipality - best illustrates what an absurd recognition this is.

- Before the war, more than 8,000 workers were employed in Stolac. Today, in both the private and public sectors, only 1,000 employees work. About 2,000 people from Stolac are currently waiting for any job at the employment bureau – says Raguž, adding that the disastrous economic situation in Stolac is precisely the fault of the policy of HDZ and Dragan Čović.

- When I moved to Stolac after the war, eight of us from the hallway of the building where I lived started the first grade of elementary school. This year, only nine students will enroll in elementary school in Stolac. Isn't that devastating? What economic development of this municipality are we talking about today? – asks Raguž. The move to award Čović the title of honorary citizen by outvoting in the Municipal Council of Stolac, Raguž believes, aims to show HDZ's political muscles. And how strong those muscles are, he adds, is best shown by young people, primarily Croats, who leave Stolac every day.