Role of BiH Presidency Members: Representing Party Interests Instead of State Interests!

Depoliticization of the BiH Presidency is one of the topics that frequently becomes a top story on the BiH political scene, writes Patria News Agency.

The electoral and political system of BiH is such that, in the current balance of power, it is impossible to expect a non-partisan person, i.e., an independent candidate who would truly represent the interests of citizens and the state, rather than the political party that nominated them, to join the BiH Presidency in the near future, as is currently the case.

In most developed European countries, a candidate elected as president automatically resigns from their party membership. At least formally. From the moment they assume the office of president, they exclusively represent the interests of the state and citizens.

The situation is similar in the region. Former Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić and former Croatian President Ivo Josipović, who was in the SDP, also resigned from their ruling party memberships. Aleksandar Vučić announced before the elections that he would be the president of all Serbian citizens, and now the opposition is calling on him to fulfill that promise and step down as SNS president.

When it comes to the members of the BiH Presidency, they present themselves to the public as political representatives of their people, while in reality, they represent exclusively the interests of their party within the state institution.

According to the Constitution and the Election Law of BiH, they do not represent the people they come from, as they often like to present themselves in public. The BiH Presidency consists of three members from the three constituent peoples of BiH, but the constitutional obligation of all three is to represent all citizens of BiH and advocate for the interests of the state.

Dragan Čović will often refer to himself as the Croat member of the Presidency, Izetbegović as the Bosniak member, and Ivanić as the Serb member. Their predecessors were not much different, except for Željko Komšić, who never hid that he represented all citizens of BiH, which was the main point of contention for the HDZ.

None of them are Croat, Bosniak, or Serb members of the Presidency, but rather members of the Presidency from the ranks of the Croat, Bosniak, or Serb people, which is something completely opposite.

If we look at the activities carried out by the members of the Presidency in the field, we come to the conclusion that in practice, none of them respect the Constitution.

Although he presents himself as the Croat member of the Presidency and protector of Croats, Dragan Čović will rarely pay an official visit to a municipality where the mayor is not from his HDZ, even if it concerns municipalities with a majority Croat population. The situation is identical when it comes to Izetbegović. It is impossible to see the SDA president in the role of a Presidency member in municipalities where the mayors are from the SDP, SBB, or other parties. When it comes to Republika Srpska, Mladen Ivanić has almost no relations with municipalities where the SNSD holds power.

Although the BiH Presidency is one of the most significant state institutions according to the BiH Constitution, the members of the Presidency have completely degraded the importance of this institution. Instead of the state's interests, the members of the Presidency have turned this institution into a political body that represents the interests of the parties from which the Presidency members come.

As a country intending to join the EU, BiH should follow European practice and have non-partisan members of the Presidency. At least formally.