The culprit of Covic's electoral loss

By: Haris Ljevo

Dragan Covic has suffered a considerable loss in the race for the Croat member’s seat in the Presidency BiH. He lost to Zeljko Komsic who got the confidence vote by the citizens to re-enter the presidency for the third time.

Following the final electoral result, Dragan Covic and the media under his control accused Bosniaks for their loss. They accused Bosniaks of voting for the Croat member but nobody ever mentioned the reasons behind their election fiasco.

The following are some of those reasons:

First - while it is true that Komsic won mainly due to Bosniak vote, Covic should admit that most of those Bosniaks decided to vote for Komsic because of Covic's nationalistic and threatening politics which has been instilling fear among Bosniaks.

Second – although he referred to Bosniaks as his 'brothers' a few times before the election, Covic made an alliance with Milorad Dodik to work against the state Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Bosniaks.

Third – during the war Dragan Covic sought Bosniak prisoner from Herzegovina's concentration camps to work at the company where he was director, which does not necessarily depict 'brotherhood', something that people do not forget.

Fourth – During his recently finalized mandate at the Presidency BiH, each time he had to choose between the interests of the state that was paying him and those of the neighboring country, he chose the latter.

Fifth – Taking photos and holding hands with the convicted war criminals (Kordic) and paying last respects to the dead war criminals (Praljak) also encouraged Bosniaks to punish him by giving vote to Komsic.

There are probably many more reasons for Bosniaks to give their vote of confidence to Komsic, but we should also name the reason why Covic failed to even get enough electoral support among the Croats which could have enable him to neutralize Bosniak influence on the final electoral outcome.

Over his 25 yearlong rule, Dragan Covic and his party drove out the Croats from predominantly Croat populated areas. Having failed to fit the HDZ's profile of an 'ideal Croat', most of them decided to seek life elsewhere in Europe. Most of those who remained in BiH blindly follow their party leader but they do not make for enough votes for the presidency seat.

It's been 20 years since the war ended but the role in the war of the current political candidates remains one of the key argument for the citizens as to whom to vote for. Instead of coercion and detention of Bosniak 'brothers', Komsic opted for taking a shotgun to defend them in a besieged city.

Furthermore, in spite of loads of criticism for Komsic's alleged inaction during his two mandates at the Presidency BiH, even at the state Parliament, his name is not tainted by any criminal offense including changing the course of the River Miljacka as Covic did with Radobolja in Mostar.

All of the above mentioned in addition to interference by Zagreb in the internal affairs of BiH, contributed to Covic's electoral failure. However, he still has a chance at the next elections to meet his goal and return to the presidency.

One thing he ought to do if he wishes to succeed is to stand before a mirror and look for the culprit for this year's fiasco.