Quarrel in the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina: HDZ broke quorum in the Collegium, joining Dodik's 'devilish game'

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Chairman of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denis Zvizdić, said that only two items remained from the proposed agenda: the minutes from the previous session and comments on the received questions. After that, Nikola Lovrinović from HDZ BiH took the floor.

Nikola Lovrinović, President of the HDZ BiH Club, said that he had proposed postponing the session. 

"I am obliged to inform you of our position. We are a very responsible party, which has been doing everything all the time to create conditions for work. It is getting harder and harder. We have an interest in the House working, but it simply does not work. We have no agenda. The agenda is not set by the Parliament but by the Collegium. And as far as I know, the expanded Collegium did not adopt it. We cannot participate in this kind of work, and we entered the session without an agenda," said Lovrinović. 

Saša Magazinović (SDP BiH) said that it is true that Lovrinović and Krišto left the session. 

"Mr. Lovrinović and Mrs. Krišto left the session of the expanded Collegium before the vote; at the moment they left, they broke the quorum and prevented the expanded Collegium from adopting the agenda and including the Resolution on the Protection of the Constitutional and Legal Order in BiH," said Magazinović, considering that this is the reason why they left the Collegium. 

Alma Čolo (SDA) said that HDZ BiH also prevented the holding of the session of the Constitutional and Legal Committee on Tuesday. 

"Yesterday we had the Constitutional and Legal Committee where there was not a single member of HDZ at the session. There was no quorum, and there was a lot of material for today's session," said Čolo. She added that HDZ is behaving like an elite group in the Parliament of BiH.

"I think they are blocking the work of institutions together with SNSD and waiting to see what will happen with the Election Law and whether they will return to the parliamentary benches. But that is my personal opinion, it does not have to be justified," said Čolo.

Lovrinović responded to Magazinović. 

"Is it a bigger circus to work with two items or not to work at all? I proposed postponing the session, and the proposal that arrived half an hour before the Collegium session could not be considered. Do you think that this way we can get out of this situation?" said Lovrinović. 

Borjana Krišto (HDZ BiH) said that she does not want to justify herself to anyone, but that she decides where and when she will come. 

"The item on the protection of the constitutional and legal order, I do not want to convince anyone from this place how much I love my country BiH in which I live, but if it has come to the point that its constitutional and legal order needs to be protected by a resolution, then it is really in trouble," said Krišto, adding that she did not leave the expanded Collegium because of this item. 

Magazinović said that it is a fact that Krišto and Lovrinović broke the quorum and prevented the supplementation of the agenda. 

Zukan Helez (SDP) said that it seems to him that HDZ, with its obstructions, is joining the devilish game of Milorad Dodik and the people gathered around him in the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska, who openly advocate separatism and secession of a part of BiH. 

"I will only warn the deputies from HDZ that this is not a fair or good game for BiH. I ask you, Deputy Chairwoman Borjana, you said you love the country, if you loved it, you would never have done this. Most people are leaving the country from the areas where HDZ rules, Western Herzegovina, Posavina, and Canton 10. While we are obstructing here, people are increasingly disgusted with politics. What kind of message is this from here to those people? With this kind of obstruction, we will drive even more people out of BiH. Get serious, we can agree on everything in the Parliament, but this joining in some dance, believe me, you will also suffer," said Helez. 

Nermin Nikšić (SDP BiH) said that everyone has the right to an opinion. 

"The position that we should not work until we are all present means that we will not work. In this place, we will have to speak openly about how we see the state. It is also a right to want a 'third entity', but let's talk about it here and see how it will end, but let's not play with patriotism," said Nikšić. 

Predrag Kožul said that "we cannot invite colleagues who are not here via the prosecutor's office, the High Representative, and NATO forces." 

Adil Osmanović (SDA) said that on behalf of the deputies of the SDA Club, he proposed a new agenda item: "Current political and security situation after the unilateral attempt of the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska to transfer competencies from the state to the entity of Republika Srpska." 

Damir Arnaut also proposed that the Resolution on the Protection of the Constitutional and Legal Order of BiH be included in the agenda.

Lovrinović said that the agenda cannot be supplemented when the agenda has not even been adopted by the expanded Collegium. 

In agreement with the secretary, Zvizdić said that he would vote for the supplementation of the agenda regardless of the fact that there are no deputies from the Republika Srpska.

"Since we currently do not have a quorum, I am calling a 15-minute break. I note that there are 25 people in the hall, and we have 20 registered on the screens," said Zvizdić.

Magazinović said that the HDZ deputies are in the hall, but that they have turned off their computers.