Salihagić: Mandate should belong to the party, not the individual

(Patria) - Deputy Chair of the Novo Sarajevo Municipal Council (OV) Nedim Salihagić (NES) reacted to yesterday's media reports that the Chair of the OV, Danijela Šahat from NIP, had switched to the SDA.

"Following yesterday's unofficial information about the latest transfers of councillors in the OV Novo Sarajevo, I am of the opinion that within the upcoming amendments to the Election Law, a proposal should be included that the mandate, instead of belonging to the individual as it currently does, should belong to the party.

I did not form this opinion and stance overnight after one piece of unofficial information, but after dozens, even hundreds, of official transfers that directly violated the will of the citizens.

How democratic it is to make a change so that mandates belong to the party is questionable, but it would certainly contribute to reducing the number of so-called defectors.

It would certainly also strengthen the positions of, conditionally speaking, smaller parties, which could grow evenly, without fear of having their representatives poached by larger parties offering them various services drawn from their centres of power.

Currently, the European standard is in force here - that the mandate belongs to the individual, but the logical question arises: has this European standard led more to the development of democracy or corruption?

On the other hand, the importance of political parties has been completely devalued, as they have been deprived of any right through this method of election, and political organising has become interest-based organising in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Certainly, what is most important is that the current method of election enables a fraud against citizens, who increasingly realise that this model is unsustainable and that they have no say after the elections.

Citizens vote for an idea, a programme, and an ideology; the next day, their will is nullified by someone leaving one party for another.

The new method would prevent corruption, and political organising would return in a big way, while the interest-based organising currently on the scene would finally be defeated.

Be that as it may, successful policies are not possible without morality and basic ethical principles, and there is no successful party without moral values," Salihagić stated.