THE GOVERNMENT IN HNK COST SDA VETERANS. Are these the consequences of an unnatural coalition with SDP and the betrayal of NES?

By: A. Čorbo-Zećo

A new leadership of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton (HNK) is being elected in Herzegovina. Observers of the political situation in Herzegovina are following all of this closely, and the rest of Bosnia and Herzegovina is not immune to the events in Mostar.

And while more information is appearing in the public about a strong bloc and a firm organization of young SDA members, who, under the leadership of Adil Šuta and Džafer Alić, decided to 'push out' older colleagues from the party leadership, specifically the president of the GO Mostar, Salem Marić, and the president of the KO HNK, Edin Mušić, the information that state parliamentarian and SDA Presidency member Šerif Špago was also 'rejected' in the intra-party elections in the Old Town was missed.

By the way, Herzegovina has been in the focus of the wider public since the establishment of the government in this canton, which has shaken several levels, at least when it comes to potential party cooperation and political alliances.

Therefore, we remind you that the Government of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton consists of HDZ BiH, SDA, and SDP, and the preliminary agreement that NES would also be in the new government was violated.

Although even Bakir Izetbegović promised Nermin Ogrešević that SDA in HNK would not leave NES in the lurch, that did not happen.

A similar situation occurred in USK when SDA pushed NES out of power. The party headquarters warned against this, and Bakir Izetbegović repeatedly stated that everything was within the jurisdiction of local organizations, but that they would have to bear the consequences.

“The decision you make is exclusively yours and you are responsible for its consequences. You undoubtedly know the relationships at the local level best, but you should keep in mind that your decision does not only concern the canton. That decision, if the current coalition is broken, will have a fateful impact on the attempt to create a strong opposition bloc that unites most Bosniak and Bosniak-oriented political forces in the Federation,” Izetbegović said at the time.

By analogy, can we conclude that the 'old' SDA members of HNK are now suffering the consequences for the unnatural alliance with SDP, while they let NES down.

Because, we see that Špago, who is considered Marić's trusted man, was not helped by his reputation as a wartime commander or the fact that he has been at the very top of the party for the last ten years. In the vote for the City Board SDA Assembly, he received only 20 votes, which was not enough to be elected.

He was preceded by as many as 19 elected candidates.

And while the battle is raging within the SDA in Mostar, we remind you that as part of the preparations for the 2024 local elections in Mostar, a political bloc has already been formed without the previously dominant SDA, and the Platform for Joint Appearance was signed by representatives of the Democratic Front, the People's European Party, the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the First Mostar Party.