SDP Sarajevo: SDA is the only one denying the Constitution and Bosnia and Herzegovina's path to NATO

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Cantonal Board of the Social Democratic Party of BiH Sarajevo calls on the Sarajevo SDA and its partners to stop spreading lies about the opposition parties' stance on Bosnia and Herzegovina's accession to the NATO alliance and on the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"In its latest statement, SDA, following the tried and tested recipe of B-SDA, i.e., the Democratic Front, invents theses and positions of opposition parties to which it then supposedly reacts. Neither SDP BiH, nor any of our partners, are calling for abandoning Bosnia and Herzegovina's NATO path, nor are they denying it, just as SDP BiH is not in coalition with parties holding such views, unlike SDA. We remind the public that the NATO path of Bosnia and Herzegovina was denied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH, Bisera Turković, who publicly stated that 'there is no MAP although it was announced' and that 'a referendum will be needed' for BiH's accession to NATO. Such views were confirmed, contrary to the law and the provisions of the agreements that Bosnia and Herzegovina has already signed on this issue, by Bakir Izetbegović, the president of SDA, who has repeatedly stated that Bosnia and Herzegovina's accession to NATO will require 'a new consensus agreement of the three sides in BiH'."

Therefore, SDP Sarajevo adds, "SDA and its leadership are denying Bosnia and Herzegovina's path to NATO more than any other party and represent a firm ally to Dodik in this regard."

"SDA is the last party that can lecture anyone on respecting the Constitution and international obligations of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As for the Constitutional Court's ruling on the 'exchange' of positions of Danijela Kristić and Elmedin Konaković in the KS Assembly, SDP BiH, as a legalistic party, accepts the ruling and sees nothing problematic in its implementation. Likewise, as SDA conveniently forgets, the High Representative made it clear with his statement that the attempt to install Mirza Čelik as the head of the KS Assembly in December 2019 was unconstitutional, i.e., it represented an act of legal violence. Unlike SDP BiH and the 'four' parties, which act legally and have no problem with the implementation of rulings by competent courts, SDA and its followers persistently try to impose and carry out violence, while publicly derogating and disregarding the constitution," the statement from SDP Sarajevo reads.

They note that "SDA's 'lawyer' Mirza Čelik publicly condemned the fact that in the Sarajevo Canton, through amendments to the Constitution, the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights were implemented, which ordered the elimination of discrimination in the electoral process and the equalization of rights for all citizens, regardless of their ethnic affiliation."

"He also expressed the view that instead of the rule of law and respect for procedures, the will of the 'stronger', i.e., the more numerous ethnic group, should be respected, effectively calling for the establishment of an ethnically divided state. Therefore, we call on SDA to bear in mind in the future that SDP remembers SDA's actions and adheres to its principles, unlike them and their partners whose memory lasts until the first post-election 'call' for seats," SDP Sarajevo emphasizes.