Forum in Mostar: BiH needs a strong and united left

Presidents of the Democratic Front Željko Komšić, SDP BiH Nermin Nikšić and Our Party Dennis Gratz at the forum "Does Bosnia and Herzegovina need a united left?", held tonight in Mostar, agreed that BiH needs a strong and united left, writes the Patria News Agency.

Addressing the attendees, Komšić said that in BiH, contrary to popular belief, most citizens prefer left-wing political stances.

"I am convinced that of the 45 percent of citizens who did not turn out in the last elections, most of them are left-wing. The problem of parties moving left of center is that we haven't found a way to reach these people and make them go to the polls," Komšić stated.

In his opinion, the question is not whether the left will unite in BiH, but when it will happen.

"BiH has no other alternative, but this will only happen if we are not slaves to our vanity and realize the responsibility we have towards the newborn and children yet to be born. As long as the left is divided, they will rule," Komšić pointed out.

According to the president of SDP BiH, Nermin Nikšić, the unification of left-oriented political parties is not as important as reaching a consensus between these parties on key issues for BiH.

"We need unity immediately, and if we reach that consensus that we are currently lacking, unification will be a mere formality," Nikšić added.

The president of Our Party, Dennis Gratz, is convinced that BiH can have a strong left that will be a civic alternative to ethno-national parties.

"I would like us to start talking tonight, not just about the particular interests of political parties, but about what common values are and how to best preserve, defend, and promote the ideas of anti-fascism in the political space of BiH," Gratz added.

Professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Sarajevo, Dr. sci. Nerzuk Ćurak, emphasized that the unification of the left in BiH is a necessity.

"In a country that, in its 20 years of post-war existence, has witnessed the inability to form a sustainable political community on the political foundations of national organization, the formation of a political spectrum for whom the nation is not key in political organization is almost an imperative," said Professor Ćurak.

The organizers of the forum were the Center for Critical Thinking and the portal tacno.net. More than 500 people filled the hall where the forum was held.

SDP, DF, and Our Party have eight deputies in the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, 28 deputies in the House of Representatives of the Federal Parliament, and 16 delegates in the Houses of Peoples of FBiH and BiH.