THIRD ENTITY ANNOUNCED: Čović uses 'trojka' blackmail to bypass Constitution and introduce cantons into the election of the BiH Presidency!

By: Amina Čorbo-Zećo

Bosnia and Herzegovina is certainly in for a turbulent period. This was announced by Dragan Čović, president of HDZ BiH, whose favorite topic is coming to the agenda, because as soon as the Election Law in BiH is mentioned, alarms go off. Especially the opposition ones, who will have to follow all negotiations, and ultimately the agreements of the ruling parties, with great attention.

Čović has not strayed far from his demands, and after Christian Schmidt helped him with the Houses of Peoples, the election of the members of the BiH Presidency is next.

„We have a proposal, and a little over a year ago, we adopted a proposal for amendments to the Election Law in the House of Peoples, and it did not pass in the House of Representatives. We will have to correct it a bit now because a part of what we proposed was, in a way, done by the High Representative on the very day of the election. We will adhere to legitimate representation. That is the basis of the amendments to the Election Law for me, and it is the basis on which the entire electoral process in BiH can rest in order for it to be considered legitimate. If something has been abused, it is the Croatian member of the Presidency being elected by the votes of Bosniaks - Čović said.

Therefore, the guidelines of what Čović wants should be sought within the framework of the law already adopted by the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliament, which never reached the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament.

And, the essence of this law is to ensure that only Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina elect the member of the Presidency.

However, it is unclear how Čović plans to do this without amending the BiH Constitution, because before 'legitimate' representation, the issue of the Strasbourg Court's rulings must be resolved, which inevitably requires amending the BiH Constitution.

Sifet Kukuruz, a legal expert, is categorical that these issues cannot be resolved without amending the BiH Constitution.

„It is obvious that they are trying something, which the people said in a roundabout way. And, when it comes to the Election Law and what Čović is saying, and considering all the rulings of the Strasbourg Court, it is inevitable to first resolve the issue of amending the BiH Constitution“, says Kukuruz.

However, Čović sees it differently.

„We will go with solutions that we can implement without touching the BiH Constitution, ensuring that no one is deceived“, says Čović.

In this way, Čović is sending a message to the 'trojka' (SDP, NiP, NS) that he expects their support for the amendments to the BiH Election Law. There should be no doubt that he will resort to blackmail, because he mentions Schmidt too often when talking about the BiH Election Law. He even admitted that part of the solution came from the OHR. It is known that Schmidt cannot intervene in the BiH Constitution, but he will certainly not miss the opportunity to help Čović and HDZ BiH. Because, he has already done so once by suspending the Constitution of FBiH.

HDZ, with the adopted law in the House of Peoples, proposes that the members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina from FBiH be elected by forming two lists. The winner from the Bosniak people would be the candidate who wins the most votes from the Bosniak people.

The winner from the Croatian people would be the one who gets the most votes, with the condition that this candidate wins the most votes in three out of five cantons: Posavina, West Herzegovina, Herzegovina-Neretva, Canton 10, and Central Bosnia.

"Members of the Presidency, who are directly elected from the territory of FBiH - one Bosniak and one Croat - are elected by voters registered on the central voter list for voting in FBiH. A voter registered on the central voter list for voting in FBiH can vote for either a Bosniak or a Croat, but not for both. All Bosniak candidates form a list of Bosniak candidates. The elected Bosniak candidate is the one who receives the highest number of votes among Bosniak candidates in FBiH. All Croatian candidates form a list of Croatian candidates from which a candidate is elected if:

- They receive the highest total number of votes among Croatian candidates in FBiH, with the condition that this candidate has won the most votes among Croatian candidates in at least three out of five cantons, namely: Herzegovina-Neretva, Central Bosnia, West Herzegovina, Canton 10, and Posavina. If the candidate who received the highest number of votes in FBiH does not meet the specified condition, the next candidate from the list of Croatian candidates by number of votes is taken, and so on down the list until a candidate who meets the specified condition is found;

- If a Croatian candidate is not elected in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 3, point a) of this article, then the elected Croatian candidate is the one who receives the highest total number of votes among Croatian candidates in FBiH, with the condition that this candidate has won the most votes among Croatian candidates in at least two out of five cantons, namely: Herzegovina-Neretva, Central Bosnia, West Herzegovina, Canton 10, and Posavina. If the candidate who received the highest number of votes in FBiH does not meet the specified condition, the next candidate from the list of Croatian candidates by number of votes is taken, and so on down the list until a candidate who meets the specified condition is found;

- If a Croatian candidate is not elected in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 3, points a) and b) of this article, then the elected Croatian candidate is the one who receives the highest total number of votes among Croatian candidates in FBiH, with the condition that this candidate has won the most votes among Croatian candidates in at least one of the five cantons, namely: Herzegovina-Neretva, Central Bosnia, West Herzegovina, Canton 10, and Posavina. If the candidate who received the highest number of votes in FBiH does not meet the specified condition, the next candidate from the list of Croatian candidates by number of votes is taken, and so on down the list until a candidate who meets the specified condition is found.

However, even for something like this, the BiH Constitution should be consulted, because the Constitution states that the members of the BiH Presidency (one Bosniak and one Croat) are directly elected from the territory of the Federation (each voter has the right to vote for one candidate). Even here, asymmetry is noticeable in the fact that it does not matter who votes for the Bosniak candidate, but for the Croatian candidate, votes from five cantons are more important.

HDZ's proposal directly contradicts the Constitution as it introduces a system of preference for certain cantons along ethnic lines.

Christian Schmidt previously wanted to do something similar in the case of the election of the House of Peoples, but due to strong public reactions, he made a different intervention that favored HDZ BiH for the election to the House of Peoples, but he abandoned the introduction of percentages.

In essence, HDZ's proposal is the introduction of a third entity through the back door, as a group of Croatian cantons would decide on the election of one member of the BiH Presidency, not the citizens of the Federation as stipulated by the BiH Constitution.