Government of HNC: SBB demands two ministries, SDA offers one, HDZ BiH does not want to interfere

The absence of the president of the SDA Municipal Board, Edin Mušić, from yesterday's meeting in Mostar with colleagues from SBB and HDZ BiH, where the HNC Government was to be discussed, is a signal that a crisis could arise in relations between coalition partners in this canton, reports the Patria news agency.

Mušić justified his absence with „party obligations at the SDA Headquarters“, only to appear in Mostar today for the celebration of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Independence Day.

SBB demands two ministries in the Government, one "large and one smaller", while SDA states that this request is unrealistic.

Therefore, Mušić's absence from this important meeting in Mostar yesterday can be viewed precisely in the context of the disagreement between the two Bosniak parties over the division of the „pie“.

What SDA and SBB cannot agree on is the Ministry of Education, which SBB would gladly take over, but the coalition partner does not agree to so easily cede a department with financial resources.

The HNC Government (SDA-HDZ BiH), it should be recalled, was formed in September last year thanks to the votes of SBB representatives in the HNC Assembly.

The newly formed Government was composed on a 6+6 model, meaning SDA has six portfolios, and HDZ BiH has one less portfolio plus the prime minister's position. When it was formed, SBB did not demand ministries, but that story has now come up.

SDA is now ready in negotiations to give the partner, with whose help the executive authority was formed, only one smaller ministry. HDZ BiH is not yet ready to give any ministry from its quota, as it considers this an intra-Bosniak issue in which this party will not interfere.

Due to the strained relations between SDA and SBB, which were already hinted at yesterday, a crisis in the government in HNC can soon be expected.