Reuf Bajrović analyzes: The year of 'Dritan', the worst since 1995, let's hope the people learn something from it!

By: Reuf Bajrović/Patria

Christian Schmidt marked 2023 by imposing a government in the FBiH. Besides this being the first time in BiH's history that the OHR imposed a government, and the second time the High Representative made a decision that is opposed by the majority of BiH citizens - the imposition of the election law on election night 2022 was the first such decision, Schmidt has written himself into the dark pages of our history by nullifying Refik Lendo's Bosniak veto.

The staunchest advocates of consociational constitutional solutions, Arend Lijphart, have argued for decades that the ethnic veto is the most important element for preserving peace and stability in post-war societies. BiH is the first case of consociation ever in which a constitutionally guaranteed ethnic veto has been annulled - and by force.

This has given the debate about the future, but also the past of BiH, a completely new dimension, because the very advocates of "people's rights" and "legitimate representation" enthusiastically supported the removal of the vast majority of Bosniaks from power by suspending the constitution, which was already imposed by force. The message to Bosniaks as a people is that they have neither civil nor ethnic rights because they are not considered human beings of equal value, even though they are the demographic majority in BiH. Apartheid, therefore.

Domestic actors who participated in Schmidt's imposition have introduced a new political practice of legitimizing 'Dritan-like' actions. The last one who openly stood against the majority of the people with whom he shares a cultural and religious identity was regionally Dritan Abazović; in BiH, it was Fikret Abdić.

The fact that the representatives of the three parties that Schmidt imposed as the government did not take up rifles to kill their people and country does not mean that their intentions are not similar, because they have not shied away from real violence. The physical attack by NiP's Halil Bajramović on an NES activist was exclusively politically motivated and ultimately accepted by the parties of the 'Troika' as a legitimate part of achieving their goals, because Bajramović has never been sanctioned in any way.

After the state of BiH, SDA is certainly the biggest loser of the past year. Not only because it lost power by force, but because it turned out that it was simply not historically up to the moment.

If SDA had been willing to do a fraction of what Dodik says he will do every day, BiH would not have this anti-Bosniak imposed constitution, nor would SDA be in opposition. Simply put, the delusion that they would manage to beg Čović to admit them to power through connections with local HDZ members only signaled to both Schmidt and Čović that SDA would peacefully accept the imposition. After 20 years of continuous rule, SDA was ripe for the opposition, but unfortunately, the interests of the state dictated that SDA's urge for power be supported, as this strengthened the fight against the imposition of Schmidt's solutions.

In the end, it turned out that SDA fears foreign officials more than it loves power or is willing to take risks for the good of the state. SDA further worsened its position by expelling NES from power in HNK and USK. The same can be said for the representatives of the Islamic Community, who were confused and passive at crucial moments.

Komšić's DF-GS coalition has been honest towards BiH from beginning to end. Despite absurd accusations of radicalism from the Sarajevo media, the key people pointed out from beginning to end what Schmidt was preparing and the catastrophic consequences of leaving the fate of the state and people to a German minister with Nazi sympathies.

NES and SBiH parties, at the crucial moment, put the interests of the state above their personal interests by leaving the 'Troika' parties to imitate the 'Abdić followers' on their own.

The vast majority of media based in Sarajevo reflexively supported the imposed government. The amount of subservience in some Sarajevo media editorial offices is inversely proportional to the substantive knowledge of issues of vital importance to BiH. Mostly younger editors and journalists socialize their personal frustrations by misusing their journalistic role in society to the detriment of our common interests, but especially the interests of our children who will long pay for the mistakes of 2023, thanks to the curse of what is called path dependency in social sciences.

Worse than the media are the representatives of big capital from parts of BiH liberated by the Army of RBiH. That level of indifference towards the fate of the state in which they became rich has no historical parallel. They think that Bingo, which Bosnian freedom, especially economic freedom, has provided them, will protect them in the Serb-Croatian condominium that is being created from the state of BiH with their tacit consent. The bad news for them is that the next victims of the judiciary under the control of Dodik-Čović will be precisely the owners of big capital with oriental names.

However, the most responsible for the state of the country is Denis Bećirović. The first and only move he made in 2023 was to outvote Željko Komšić together with Željko Cvijanović. Denis is preparing to convince the people that he did not act in a 'Dritan-like' manner, although those who follow politics know that he is more malignant to the future of our children than Dino and Nermin combined. After last time, when he had power, he cemented the results of the genocide and turned Bosniaks in the smaller entity into third-class citizens by voting for the shameful Law on Residence, he is now preparing to save the 'Dritans' from the 'Troika' by forming a new party. Because every vote for Denis will be a vote for the survival of Serb-Croatian Bosnia.

2023 was politically the worst since 1995. Let's hope the people learn something from it.