We should fear an Orwellian world and populist spin of reality, in which Our Party leads

By: Muamer Bandić

I haven't felt greater shame in a long time than when watching Our Party's latest "Europe is Ours" spots, made on the occasion of the announcement of Bosnia and Herzegovina's negotiations with the European Union. Not only was I ashamed of the genuine naivety of this propaganda spin, but I also felt fear due to the realization that I live in a prototype of an Orwellian society, in which reality is completely contrary to what the authorities are telling us it is.

For a year now, we have been showered with lies and fairy tales about a "reformed" and "European" Dodik and Čović, a "programmatic coalition" that will lead us to the EU, and that they will not cooperate with nationalists, and they wave "billions of euros" at us that are just waiting for us to take them. Today, it is clear to everyone in Bosnia and Herzegovina that this is a partnership of opportunists and deal-makers. They will sacrifice, even with the worst chauvinists if necessary, all with the aim of covering the budget and resources of our country. Our fake liberals do not choose partners when it comes to power.

Everything they promised in the past year has turned out to be a deception. And the prominent leaders of Our Party, Edin Forto and Sabina Ćudić, are at the forefront of this. Moreover, their statements from a year ago and what they are doing today are in complete contradiction.

If we analyze a little more seriously what has actually been done during the political rule of the Trojka parties, we can precisely detect targeted propaganda efforts aimed at forming a completely false picture of reality, based on a brutal deception about the European progress of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a functional state capable of ensuring prosperity and security for all its citizens throughout its territory.

It is enough to look at the key aspects of government formation at the state level, and especially at the level of the Federation of BiH, to clearly see that this is not the case. I have written and spoken many times that the FBiH Government was imposed by a kind of constitutional coup, a 24-hour suspension of the FBiH Constitution by the High Representative, which prevented Bosniaks, as a constituent people, from equally regulating the Federation of BiH with Croats, Serbs, and other citizens.

Even the European Commission's Report on Bosnia and Herzegovina unequivocally states that the FBiH Government was appointed after the High Representative suspended the FBiH Constitution. If disrespecting the Constitution, as a brutal violation of the rule of law and legal equality, is considered "progress," then we must seriously ask ourselves what kind of state and society is being built here? Something closest to the West Bank and Gaza!

I have emphasized that the basic principle of reciprocity in the process of regulating the Federation of BiH has been violated to the detriment of Bosniaks, as the majority people. Preserving the integrity of the constitutional order implies respecting and applying constitutional provisions, which ensures legal certainty and democratic development of society. There is no other democratic, legal, and civilizationally acceptable path for change.

And indeed, today the statements of our worthy Europeans about "zero tolerance for corruption" sound like a good joke when foreigners bring you to power by suspending the highest legal act - the FBiH Constitution. For me, this is incomprehensible, and I believe it is for the citizens as well. I cannot comprehend how someone can talk about building a state, fighting corruption, fighting for human rights, while at the same time supporting the suspension of the Constitution, which directly threatens the integrity of the constitutional order and weakens the rule of law? Not to mention all the corrupt practices that are regularly carried out at lower levels of government. Moreover, the Government of Sarajevo Canton can be said to be the federal champion in corruption, lack of transparency, and selective application of the law.

Although we are showered daily with fairy tales and propaganda works about "progress" and the "European path," they never talk about the real position of Bosniaks, Croats, and Others, i.e., non-Serbs, in the smaller BiH entity. And this is an interesting and vitally important story that should be at the foundation of our country's European transformation, because we are talking about de facto minorities, reduced by genocide and ethnic cleansing to almost a mere statistical error. According to the 2013 census, only about 12.69% of Bosniaks and only about 1.25% of Croats survived in Republika Srpska. The scale of the genocide is evident when comparing these numbers with those from the last pre-war census in 1991, when 43.65% Bosniaks, 17.31% Croats, 5.49% Yugoslavs, and 2.14% Others lived in those areas. Today, neither Bosniaks nor Croats nor Others are a political factor in Republika Srpska, and this is our reality.

Why don't our worthy Europeans tell us what progress has been made in the smaller BiH entity and what is the political and constitutional-legal position of Bosniaks, Croats, and Others, i.e., non-Serbs there? They won't tell us because they don't want to offend the chauvinists who keep them in power! And this is the brutal reality of this country today that no one wants to talk about, because the few non-Serbs in Republika Srpska are not an important voting base. And it is completely clear to everyone that the institutions of the smaller BiH entity are permeated with chauvinistic Greater Serbian politics, and that Bosniaks, Croats, and Other citizens there represent mere decoration, systematically disenfranchised through the mechanisms of power.

It is even ridiculous today to ask who is pulling the country forward and who is pulling it back, and to talk about progress on the European path of a country in which Bosniaks and Croats are systematically disenfranchised on half of its territory for 30 years, and Other citizens are deprived of basic political rights guaranteed by the European Convention, which is an integral part of our legislation, throughout its territory. Perhaps progress for some is that Bosniaks are now also brought to an equal political position in the Federation of BiH, in which they have been for thirty years in Republika Srpska!?

When looking at the concrete results of this imposed ruling clique in fulfilling the 14 priorities from the European Commission's Opinion, we find that only three priorities are considered fulfilled, while five are only partially fulfilled, and seven are not fulfilled at all and it is questionable whether they ever will be. No matter how much they expose us daily to populist spins that they are "killing themselves working" to push us forward towards Europe, we still live in a country where the High Representative imposes laws.

Chauvinism, lawlessness, poverty, and general insecurity are progress only for the imposed ruling elite, who, thanks to their control over our money and resources in coalition with the open enemies of this country, live in their own alternative reality.