Covic's calculation: Croat from Zenica is fake, true Croat is from Grude

By: Edina LATIF

Each time Dragan Covic and HDZ BiH go to correct discrimination against Croat people, they manage to create even greater discrimination, not only for Bosniaks, Serbs and Others who live in Federation BiH, but also for the Croats themselves.

Model of selection of BiH presidency members created by Covic and his aides, which he does not intend to give upon, as he announced, is discriminatory in every segment.

The model does not resolve dilemma if Croats will chose the Croat member of the presidency, or if Bosniaks will chose the Bosniak member, but whether Covic i.e. HDZ candidate will be the new chief of state; it also defines 'value and weight' of the Croats in Federation dependent on the part of the country they live in.

In doing so, as agreed with his friend and political and business partner Milorad Dodik, Covic did not take into consideration Republika Srpska.

The appointed presidency member from Republika Srpska (Serb) is the candidate who won majority of votes in Republika Srpska as one electoral unit.

By this regulation, he made it clear that in the RS, his Croats but also Bosniaks and the Others will continue to be discriminated as they cannot realize their electoral right (to be elected), or they can realize the right passively by voting for a Serb only.

Covic does not want to anger Dodik, even if it is at the expense of 12,000 Croats who live in the RS.

When it comes to Federation, Covic and HDZ have sent a clear message: a Croat from Grude, Siroki Brijeg, Livno, Kiseljak, is worth more than a Croat from Zenica, Sarajevo, Gorazde, and Tuzla... Same goes for Bosniaks.

The former director of 'Soko', who without any scrupule, used Bosniaks and Serbs from the notorious concentration camp Heliodrom as labor, devised the model of selection of presidency members from the territory of the Federation, which is a prelude to even deeper ethnic divide, and represents a legal ground for the third entity.

He divided electoral units on electoral areas A, B and C. A's are those with more than two thirds of Bosniaks, B's are those with two thirds of Croats and C's are somewhere in between.

If A is, for example, Zenica-Doboj canton, B West Herzegovina canton and C is Central Bosnia canton, according to Covic's calculation, for the Bosniak presidency member, A and C would be added up. Maybe Zenica and Vitez. For the Croat presidency member, B and C would be considered, perhaps Siroki Brijeg and Vitez.

In practice, it means that the Croat from Zenica does not run any chance to be the Croat member of the presidency, or a Bosniak from Ljubuski to be, say, the Bosniak presidency member.

A Croat from Zenica (electoral area A with more than two thirds of Bosniaks) could for example gain 100,000 votes, however, his votes are not credible for Covic's math. Because that math says that his votes did not come from Croats but Bosniaks, Serbs and Others, and as such he is not good enough according to HDZ's criteria.

Let's remember how Covic, for sake of collecting European points, spoke late last year about resolving Sejdic – Finci case this January. However, he made that into so called Croat question which comes in handy each time he feels that he needs to strengthen his position, or HDZ's status or the one of so called Croat Republic of Herzeg Bosnia whose leaders are in the Hague prison cell awaiting the verdict for organized crimes.

Prlic et al are sentenced to 25 years in jail, and November will see confirmation of the verdict.

Is Covic rushing to change the Electoral law before this summer to avoid The Hague verdict, which will most probably confirm the organized crime of creating ethnically clean HRHB, getting in the way of his evil plan?

He is rushing indeed; he recently stated that the Parliament does not have two thirds for changes to the Constitution, but changes to the Electoral law are possible as they require only simple majority (22 of 42 delegates).

He can't count on support of SDA and Bakir Izetbegovic as the main coalition partner on the state level but also in Federation and cantonal assemblies. That is 10 hands less. He is also lacking support in DF and SDP. Who are then Covic's partners who will help him resolve 'Croat question'?

Will that European Union allow discrimination and devaluation of citizens on the basis of their ethnic and geographic affiliation, the one that appalls the entire democratic world – to be nested in the very heart of the 'old lady' in the 21st century?

Maybe as a Bosniak, I prefer Dragan Covic from Sarajevo because I know him personally and I know his worth, so I will happily give him my vote, than Dragan Covic from the west side of Neretva. Why is my Dragan less worth than HDZ's one?