Schmidt in action: OHR summons deputies to 'persuade' them to vote for Vukoja!

Written by: A. Čorbo-Zećo

In the sea of turbulent events in Bosnia and Herzegovina in recent months, the appointment of the missing judge of the Constitutional Court of BiH from the Federation has remained in the shadows, where the HDZ and the Troika have intended to appoint HDZ's Marin Vukoja.

Admittedly, it may seem that way, because the topics preoccupying the public now concern Milorad Dodik and his secessionist aspirations, but the Office of the High Representative, it seems, considers the appointment of the judge a priority. Namely, according to Patria's findings, the OHR is preparing a meeting for members of the Appointment Commission, with an emphasis on the attendance of deputies who had previously refused to come to the session, all with the aim of exerting pressure, so that one of them might change their mind and come to the session as the necessary sixth vote.

We remind you that the Troika and the HDZ BiH do not have the necessary majority in the Appointment Commission of the House of Representatives to propose only Marin Vukoja for judge of the Constitutional Court.

According to the Rules of Procedure of the House of Representatives, a majority of the total number of members of that Commission is required for decisions within the original competence of the Commission. The Appointment Commission has 11 members, meaning a majority of six is needed.

However, since the end of June, the Commission has not been at full strength. It is missing two members from the HDZ BiH (Antonio Sesar and Feliks Vidović) who have resigned from their deputy positions, and consequently from their membership in the Commission.

Without those two Commission members, the parties of the Troika and HDZ BiH do not have six votes in the Appointment Commission, meaning they do not have the necessary majority to make a decision that only Marin Vukoja be proposed for judge of the Constitutional Court of BiH.

The HDZ BiH and the Troika have only five Commission members – Mladen Bošković (HDZ), Damir Mašić (SDP), Aner Žuljević (SDP), Dragan Mioković (Naša stranka), and Rasim Smajlović (NiP).

The opposition has four Commission members – Irfan Durić (NES), Eldar Čomor (SDA), Edina Gabela (SBiH), and Dajana Čolić (DF).

It is precisely these four members that the OHR's pressures are directed at, and it is likely they will also receive a written invitation to a meeting at the OHR building. Telephone contacts have already been made, and it will be necessary for just one of these four deputies to give in so that Vukoja is proposed as the sole candidate for judge of the Constitutional Court of BiH, which must be confirmed by the House of Representatives of the PFBiH.

Some deputies have denied contacts with the OHR, while others have confirmed they are awaiting a written invitation to a meeting at the OHR building on Monday, September 18.

All this suggests that Christian Schmidt has not been honest with the BiH public in his statements over the past few days, because it is obvious that the games surrounding the Constitutional Court of BiH are being conducted behind the scenes under the patronage of the international community, whatever that may be!

It is interesting that Schmidt and the OHR, in this example as well, prove that they act exclusively on the territory of the Federation (especially towards Bosniaks), because it should be recalled that two judges also need to be appointed from the entity of Republika Srpska, which is currently also blocked due to Milorad Dodik.