Aluminium Recycling: Political Points on the Ruins of a Giant

The line between these two considerations is thin, so it is difficult to say whether the leaders of ethno-national policies in Bosnia and Herzegovina are true political maestros, or whether voters collectively suffer brain damage, supporting from the war until today policies that pit them against each other?!
   Although the HDZ practically and essentially looted Aluminij, leaving it without a chance for recovery, it is currently known that at least 500 workers and their families are left without salaries, the federal budget suffers great losses – a luxury car in front of the Mostar company building brings Dragan Čović, who, with a deep gaze, tired and worried face, offers salvation to the once Mostar giant. 
   Aluminij, as we know, has been an ATM for the HDZ until now, while by recycling its remains, Čović tries to score political points on the ruins of the giant.
   When Aluminij's debt reached a massive 400 million KM, becoming a noose around the neck of both the company and the party, and workers came to the HDZ's door shouting 'Betrayal, betrayal,' and 'Thieves, thieves,' Čović tried to distance himself from the problem, stating that he feels no minimal personal responsibility for Aluminij's collapse, and that his entire role in the complete chaos is reflected in his eventual engagement in saving the company. This is, evidently, a direct revisionism of the past of the economic symbol of Herzegovina: HDZ people have managed Aluminij from the war until today - first Mijo Brajković as a former member of the party's Presidency, and after him all other HDZ direct and indirect cadres. For example, former Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Aluminij, Dalibor Miloš, is mentioned as a potential successor to Čović in the party. 
   So, as we see, the HDZ has had absolute control over the company considered the lifeline of Herzegovina all along, so, honestly, both merits and mistakes in the company should be attributed to them.
   Although the HDZ president has no constitutional or institutional authority, we have already recognized, he appears as the chief negotiator on behalf of Aluminij: „The strategic partner is here. We must show that we have a healthy environment and that what they want can be realized here. The strategic partner, both in the medium and long term, wants to do much more than what 'Aluminij' was,” said Čović on Tuesday, adding that the potential partners for Aluminij are an Israeli-Chinese company, one of the largest producers of aluminum and energy in the world, employing about 110,000 people.
   In a technical sense, without constitutional and institutional authority, such a statement by Čović and his appearance as an authorized representative of Aluminij serves only as a public spectacle, additionally proving that Čović and the HDZ have been heavily involved in the processes around Aluminij all along.
   Two plants play a key role in capitalizing on Aluminij's tragedy: HDZ media, whose task is to dramatize the entire case, and the company's management, which, by publicly apologizing for the inconvenience caused by workers' protests, repays debts to Čović because the HDZ enabled them huge financial premiums even when Aluminij operated at a loss. Because of this, judging by the front pages of portals sympathetic to Čović, we get the feeling that at this moment there is no one who can save the fallen Herzegovinian pride except those who destroyed it, while the same media do not even lightly question how the company's collapse happened at all, how it is possible that people who destroyed Aluminij now lead its restructuring program, who stands behind the Chinese-Israeli money and Russian capital that the HDZ announces as salvation for the company.
   It can be said that Čović is currently saving Aluminij similarly to how Elmedin Konaković is saving Sarajevo Canton, when he replaces SDA criminals in public companies with suspicious types from NiP?!
   However, and no matter how much the management and media try to prove that Čović wants only the best for Aluminij, the truth is much more painful – at least 500 workers will, instead of going to the gate of Mostar's Aluminij, go to work on some construction site in Germany, far from sunny Mostar and the clean Neretva River.