Skopljaković: Komšić is legitimate, Croats and Serbs voted against constitutionality

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - There is constant talk in Bosnia and Herzegovina about resolving the Croatian issue, and many see the Croatian issue in their own way, although Croatian issues are actually Bosniak, Serb, and the issue of everyone else who lives here, said the leader of the Croatian Party of BiH Božo Skopljaković. 

Answering questions from Radio StranjaniZE listeners about why he asked the BiH Presidency member Željko Komšić for help in resolving some issues for Croats, Skopljaković replied: "I spoke with Komšić about several things concerning a part of the Croats in central Bosnia, and the public will be informed about what it is when the time comes. Komšić was elected on the basis of the same Election Law on which Dragan Čović was elected in his term. As far as the Croatian Party is concerned, Komšić is a legally elected representative of the Croatian people," reports Patria.

He added that the HS BiH advocates for the same: "Croats elect their representatives in power."

"Because, if we are a constituent people, then we are an equal people, and we believe that we should elect our representatives in power. The question is rightly asked why Čović did not initiate changes to the Election Law from the positions he held, and not when he lost the position he hoped for. Now everyone is to blame, and only now does he advocate for changes to the Election Law. We are a constituent people and should be equal to the other two peoples as long as there is a provision on constitutionality in the Constitution"; added Skopljaković. 

He explained that the Constitutional Court of BiH made a decision on the constitutionality of the three peoples throughout BiH in July 2000.

"It is interesting that two Bosniak judges and foreign judges voted for constitutionality throughout BiH. Judges from the Croatian and Serb peoples voted against it. We know which parties were in power at the time and which elected constitutional judges. The question arises why Croatian judges voted against the constitutionality of Croats throughout BiH. We must always link this to the HDZ, because the HDZ was in power and elected constitutional judges. I really don't understand why they acted that way, and now they readily refer to that provision on constitutionality," Skopljaković stated.

When asked how Komšić came to be elected, Skopljaković says: "The HDZ cannot claim that Croats are only those in the HDZ. There are Croats outside the HDZ as well. Željko Komšić is a Croat, his parents are Croats, and he has the right to run. The Croatian Party of BiH proposed that members of the Presidency be elected in the BiH Parliament. Why the HDZ was not in favor of that is unclear to me. Croatian parties use the imprecise Election Law for daily political purposes, and they are not interested in changes either."

According to him, although there are examples where Croats are endangered by the other two peoples, there are also places where Croats are endangered by themselves.