REFORM WAR ON THE STATE: When they take over the Central Election Commission and the Constitutional Court, Čović and Dodik will celebrate the end of a sovereign and unified BiH!

By Rasim Belko

Derogating state institutions and turning them into outposts of party power is the key factor in the laws that leaders of the current state government, Milorad Dodik and Dragan Čović, are announcing as a prerequisite for the continuation of that government's functioning. When we add to this the fact that the issue of state property will soon be resolved, it is clear that a new wave of attacks on the existence of Bosnia and Herzegovina is being prepared.

Dragan Čović, the leader of HDZ BiH, is formally announcing, and de facto insisting on and conditioning, changes to the Election Law by the end of the year. And there is no doubt that the focus of HDZ's actions and pressure in the next slightly more than two months will go in that direction. We should not forget the not unimportant international support for Čović's policy, which comes through the EU Delegation, the OHR, and the US Embassy.

Because, two days after Čović announced the Election Law, the Constitutional Court, and state property as issues to be resolved by the end of the year, the head of the EU Delegation, Johann Sattler, met with key HDZ officials in Mostar. In addition to Čović, Borjana Krišto, Vice-President of HDZ and Chairperson of the Council of Ministers, and Josip Brkić, a key HDZ operative and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, attended that meeting.

Although the official statement mentioned exclusively the European path of BiH, the topic of conversation was undoubtedly Čović's announcement. And if what Čović announces is realized, according to the plans of HDZ and SNSD, Bosnia and Herzegovina will be in an extremely bad position. Its institutions will practically be in the hands of policies that have been working to dismantle the state for decades.

The modality of electing members of the Central Election Commission, prepared by SNSD and HDZ, implies new ethnicization and partyocracy in that institution, which, if the plans of the aforementioned parties are accepted, will become a party rather than a state institution. The CEC is aware of this, so the president of this institution wrote to the Quint (a key segment of the international community). By controlling the CEC, SNSD and HDZ would create the possibility of absolute control over future election processes, and that would mean the end of elections as a "celebration of democracy".

The second part of the plan in the "amendments to the Election Law" formula is the finalization of what High Representative Christian Schmidt imposed on April 27, 2023. In fact, with the amendments as conceived by Čović, Schmidt would no longer be needed because the BiH Constitution and the Election Law would allow HDZ to be a permanent category in all future governments at all levels, from the Presidency to cantonal assemblies.

The second announced reform is actually key to the institutional functioning of Bosnia and Herzegovina, because by taking the Constitutional Court out of the hands of the ECHR judges and filling it in such a way that it is ethnically composed of three judges from each nation, it essentially cripples the functioning of the BiH Constitutional Court. Milorad Dodik knows that ethnic blocking of the Constitutional Court is the key to the success of his future endeavors, which is why he is entering into blockades of state government.

Taking over the Constitutional Court and introducing entity voting would prevent this key institution for the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina from functioning, in the same way that all institutions where decisions are made ethnically and by entity are prevented from functioning. This would clear the way for secessionist laws in RS, as well as Čović's anti-European and anti-civilizational reforms.

Ultimately, the reforms that Čović is announcing in agreement with Dodik by the end of the year are an institutional war against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Because, by taking over the CEC and the BiH Constitutional Court, Čović and Dodik, i.e., their parties, will clear the way for the final dismantling of everything that constitutes the statehood of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

If they succeed, the announced resolution of the state property issue is meaningless, because firstly, they will disable any solution by which the state becomes the sole owner of the property, and secondly, a state without territory or without institutions is the same.

The defense of key institutions for the statehood of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the joint political attack of SNSD and HDZ is a matter of the destiny of Bosnia and Herzegovina, perhaps even more than the issue of state property. The issue of this defense primarily rests with the government actors coming from Sarajevo (SDP, NiP, Naša stranka), but no less so with the parties that are not in power at the moment.

The synchronized action of Dodik and Čović has clearly managed to confuse pro-Bosnian forces and the "trio" as well, so allowing reforms according to the modality that Čović announces in public appearances would mean leaving destiny to uncertainty in the hands of parties that are successors to policies that intended to divide Bosnia and Herzegovina.

And no, the issue of defending the institutions and property of Bosnia and Herzegovina is not and must not be on the international community, because after the last session of the PIC Steering Board, it is clear that this international community is divided into those who support Čović's and those who support Dodik's separatism under the guise of the European path.

Therefore, the pro-Bosnian political factor must not allow the confusion to be effective, because if Čović's announcements are realized, Dodik will be able to go to Vučić and Putin and bring them the prepared dissolution.