Zalihić: Irma told me 'run, I will vote for you too'

(Patria) - Arman Zalihić (SDP) commented on yesterday's events at the session of the Mostar City Council.

- I have invested all my energy in recent months in BH Blok, trying my best to achieve the best possible election result. Although the SDP won more seats in the elections, and we also had unconditional support from PMP, I immediately asked my colleague Baralija for a statement regarding her possible candidacy, so that I could propose it to the party bodies. I clearly stated that if she agreed, I would not run.  

Although they led a media campaign, her official stance was absent, which is why members of the City Committee and SDP members of the BH Blok Council rightly reproached me for the candidacy of colleague Baralija, since our party bodies had not made a decision on that matter.

At my insistence, a new meeting was held at which colleague Baralija, after a month of media coverage, asked for support for the first time. Within 72 hours, we held a session of the SDP Mostar City Committee, where we gave her UNANIMOUS support.

I stood behind her candidacy with utmost sincerity and full capacity. I went so far as to ask the president of PMP, Semir Drljević – Lovac, to give her their support as well, so that she would initially have the backing of all seven councilors. However, solely due to their previous relations, and especially due to the observations of NS members regarding Mr. Drljević's war record, PMP did not want to support her at any cost.

At the Constitutive session of the Council, SDP and NS support Baralija.   

After the first round of voting, it was clear that the HDZ candidate Dr. Mario Kordić had the support of the SNSD councilor Dr. Milivojević. Knowing that the NS councilor Boška Ćavar had, on several occasions, publicly and unequivocally stated that she would abstain, and that PMP did not want to support Baralija, it became obvious that only I could have the support of all seven members of BH Blok and PMP.

Of course, that did not guarantee my election, but it was at least theoretically feasible. Namely, it was clear that Dr. Guzin had 11 votes from the Coalition for Mostar, and theoretically, even with our support, he could reach a maximum of 17 votes, which was equal to Dr. Kordić (HDZ 13, HRS 3, SNSD 1), which would give the latter the mayor's position, as he is younger.  All of this was argued to NS at yesterday's meeting at the Hotel Bristol, and we went to the session in the mood that the process of candidacies and the first round of elections should be annulled, which I, in fact, requested. Of course, HDZ and SDA do not want to return things to the beginning, so they propose that the existing candidates must remain, with the conclusion that new ones can also be nominated.  

I call colleague Baralija outside and ask her in private: "Irma, what shall we do?", to which I receive the answer: "Run, I will vote for you too." Had she not given me such an unequivocal answer of support, I would not have run. After that, I accept the conclusion, noting that I did not promise anyone that after the candidacy I would not seek a five-day pause for consultations.    
We go on a break again, when I meet councilor Salem Marić in the hallway, who apparently realized that by this act I wanted to thwart his secretly hatched plan with HDZ, to secure victory for Dr. Kordić, so that ultimately he would get the position of Council President.

His insults were so ugly, vulgar, and extremely primitive that I do not wish to repeat them here. Nevertheless, I overlook it and invite him for consultations, where my colleague Adela Gosto addresses him with the words: "You are aware that Dr. Guzin has no chance, therefore we ask you to support a five-day postponement so we can agree on 17 or 18 hands for a candidate who has a chance to defeat HDZ."  

We return to the hall when my colleague Baralija tells me: "They asked me from the Coalition for Mostar if the SDP and PMP councilors leave the session, whether I would leave too, and I answered them affirmatively." President Zelenika enters the Council chamber and does not allow me to request a five-day pause, after which I am forced to leave it, followed by the other SDP and PMP councilors.
It is symptomatic that, after my candidacy, the vice-president of Our Party, Sabina Ćudić, announced in the media that BH Blok is falling apart because of the SDP in Mostar, which is also a threat at the state level. Probably after that announcement, my colleague Irma Baralija changed her stance and decided to stay at the session, thus "breaking her word" given to me just a few minutes earlier. So, while SDP and PMP were deciding in the Mostar council chamber, NS was deciding in the party headquarters in Sarajevo! 

All of this resulted in candidates Guzin and Kordić advancing to the second round, making it crystal clear that Dr. Guzin was sacrificed by the Coalition for Mostar, more precisely by the president of the SDA Mostar City Board, Mr. Salem Marić.  Then a three-day break was requested - which they did not agree to upon my call before the first round.

With this, all masks have fallen, and it is clear that only SDP and PMP sincerely worked to finally get a mayor who is not from the two national parties, while SDA and HDZ had long organized a charade in which Kordić would become mayor, and Salem Marić president of the Council. I am saddened that NS remained with them, but this best shows that they are prone to populism and self-promotion, not political reality and opposition to national blocs in Mostar. 

In recent days, I have had quite "harsh", sometimes somewhat immoderate statements and media appearances, which is not typical for me, so I take this opportunity to sincerely apologize to all the women and men of Mostar. I believe that, after everything, it has become clear that I was, in a way, forced into this in my desire to expose the criminality of the past period, which certain individuals skillfully want to hide under the cloak of national interests.

I think that, after today's - final act of the "charade", it has become clear to everyone that SDA and HDZ would never agree to a mayor who would oversee the large number of illegal actions and criminal acts of the last 20 years. That is why they remain long-term strategic partners, on a common and long well-trodden path of non-transparency and favoritism towards their cronies! 
We'll live and see - wrote Zalihić.