'Why can't civic parties in BiH sit at a common table, but can with nationalists'

By: Armin Aljović

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On April 7, Bosnia and Herzegovina enters the seventh month since the 8th General Elections were held in the country, and the state still has not formed a state-level government, nor a government at the level of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of the two entities in the country.

In the future composition of the Council of Ministers, i.e., the State Government, three ethnonational parties are currently mentioned as certain: the Bosniak party SDA, for Croats the HDZ BiH, and SNSD as the leading political party from the entity of Republika Srpska.

'DENYING RIGHTS TO OTHERS'

Although the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina defines that the holders of constituent status in BiH, alongside the three constituent peoples—Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats—are also citizens from the category of Others, i.e., those who do not declare themselves as members of any of the three dominant ethnic groups living in BiH, the president of HDZ BiH, Dragan Čović, and the president of SNSD, Milorad Dodik, are attempting to dispute the entry of civic parties into government as bearers of civic values.

When asked whether DF is desirable as a partner in the new government, the president of HDZ, Dragan Čović, told journalists a few days ago in Mostar that among Bosniaks, SDA, i.e., Bakir Izetbegović, leads a bloc of parties. 

"It is up to SDA who they will have in that bloc. In the negotiations, there will be no DF, only these three parties," Čović stated. HDZ has been running a media campaign for some time claiming that DF, SDP, and Naša stranka are Bosniak parties, i.e., the Bosniak left.

Legal expert and commentator on political relations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Muharem Cero, says that in such a response from Čović, he recognizes "a cunning attempt" to divide the entire political system of Bosnia and Herzegovina into three ethnic representations: Bosniak, Serb, and Croat representation, while completely excluding from political life all those parties that do not carry an ethnic prefix. Such behavior by Čović and Milorad Dodik, the president of SNSD, says Cero, is contrary to the Dayton Peace Agreement, the Constitution of BiH, and also to civilizational values.

"According to the Constitution of BiH, the holders of sovereignty in Bosnia and Herzegovina are not only the three ethnic peoples, but also the Others," Cero believes, adding that preventing civic political parties from being a fourth partner in the future government of Bosnia and Herzegovina represents a serious violation of the Constitution of BiH.

'RESPONSIBILITY OF THE LEFT'

Some analysts, however, see the responsibility for the difficult political situation in BiH specifically among the civic political parties themselves, which together won more votes in the last elections in BiH than the ethnic parties individually, but despite such an election result, there is no clear connection between the civic political parties. On the contrary, there is open animosity among some of them.
After the president of DF, Željko Komšić, stated that he would open negotiations with national parties regarding the formation of the future government, "because it must not be allowed for the country to be governed only by ethnonational parties," the president of Naša stranka, Predrag Kojović, stated that in that case DF cannot be part of the "BH Bloc," an informal post-election bloc of left-wing and civic parties in the Federation of BiH, which nevertheless decided to remain in opposition for the next four years.

Speaking about the formation of the government on Thursday evening on N1, the president of SBB, Fahrudin Radončić, stated that "dawn cannot come before the night is over."

"A mandate-holder must be appointed. To have 30 days to visit leaders and propose a cabinet. We have no mandate-holder. There is no need to talk about entering government if a mandate-holder is not appointed. If and when one is appointed—we, as serious people, will receive the mandate-holder and talk with him," Radončić stated. With this, the president of SBB left open the possibility of being part of the government in the next four years together with national parties, if negotiations between SDA and DF fail.

Based on statements from leaders of political parties, analysts conclude that parties of left-wing and civic orientation in BiH are investing energy in negotiating with national parties about forming the future government, while they do not show interest, or do not show enough, in first creating a strong bloc within the civic spectrum of political parties in BiH.

Marijo Pejić, president of the Croatian National Council, emphasizes that the advocates of chauvinism and national radicalism are most responsible for the chaotic situation in BiH, as they are the biggest obstacle to the development of our society. On the other hand, he warns, representatives of civic movements must define a strategy of action and bring closer and explain to all citizens of BiH, theoretically and practically, the civic model of state organization, i.e., refute the incorrect and scientifically unfounded interpretations of the civic concept, which, as he says, chauvinists and political extremists "consciously spread and impose on our citizens, trying to frighten them and convince them that the civic concept is something bad for the peoples living in BiH." 

Muharem Cero assesses that the left and civic parties need to understand that Bosnia and Herzegovina needs a strong, not a weak, fourth partner in government, which would be a kind of counterbalance to the national parties. "Because a four-legged stool is always more stable than a three-legged one," says Cero.