Turčalo: The Most Detrimental Thing Is That Politicians from Sarajevo Do Not Oppose the Narrative of HDZ and SNSD

(Patria) - The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights rendered a decision in the Kovačević case.

They stated that they did not enter into the merits at all, dismissing the judgment on procedural grounds.

After that, a series of reactions followed in which political actors from Sarajevo began trading barbs with each other.

On this topic, as well as other current affairs, the dean of the Faculty of Political Sciences in Sarajevo, Sead Turčalo, spoke last night on the show '7plus' on Hayat televizije .

- We need to separate some facts. The Court absolutely did not enter into the merits at all. It was dismissed on procedural grounds because the applicant did not present all the facts.

Also, he was not a victim in the way the Court presented it. The Court did not dispute that the constitutional-legal order is discriminatory, nor did it reject previous judgments in the sense that BiH citizens are limited by ethnic and territorial conditions.

Here, in no case can we say that it rehabilitated the Dayton structure. When the initial judgment was rendered, there was a dissenting opinion that elaborated on all these points.

Primarily, that not all legal remedies before the Court in Strasbourg were exhausted. This appeal turned into a legal but also geopolitical issue due to the interference of Croatia and the OHR.

From Croatia, they clearly understood that what HDZ wants to be adopted could not be implemented - says Turčalo.

The period after the Grand Chamber's decision is characterized by bickering among political actors from Sarajevo who shift responsibility onto others.

Turčalo believes that such behavior is very detrimental, raising the question of whether the state or the election result is more important to them.

- The most detrimental thing is that political actors from Sarajevo do not oppose the wrong narrative of HDZ and SNSD regarding the judgment. Those who are bickering among themselves can hardly answer one question - is the state or the election result more important to them?

Based on how they accuse each other and act, the election result next year is more important than the state. We are witnessing that every issue is used to improve the election result, which shows how unserious the attitude towards the state is - emphasizes Turčalo.

Delegates of HDZ in the House of Peoples left the last session where their proposal for the Election Law was supposed to be considered. Turčalo believes that after the collapse of the judiciary, the aim is to undermine the electoral process in BiH.

- That was just one indicator that there is no political majority ready to fulfill HDZ's wishes to deepen discrimination.

It is about the fact that all relevant international actors assessed HDZ's proposal as non-compliant with European standards because it aims to have the CEC completely controlled. After the judiciary was undermined, the electoral process is also being destroyed - says Turčalo.

He also commented on the second-instance verdict in the Dodik case, which will soon be pronounced.

- One gets the impression that the verdict will affect his behavior. It is just noise being created around it, ignoring that every move of his is pre-planned and that only some events were a trigger for him to do what he intended.

I am not sure that Sarajevo politicians have a plan on how to proceed if Dodik is banned from political activity - concluded Turčalo.