The years eaten away by optimism: Sejdic and Finci will judge Covic and Izetbegovic

By: Amina Corbo Zeco

- I agreed with Izetbegovic that we should solve the Sejdic – Finci case in the next two months. That entails the changes to the Electoral law, Dragan Covic, HDZ leader said.

- It is hard to imagine that we will do that by the end of the year. I think that Mr. Covic is over-optimistic', Bakir Izetbegovic, SDA leader said.

It is strange that Izetbegovic bothers with Covic's inner world of optimism instead of precise dates, after more than 8 years of waiting for the implementation of the European Court verdict. The whole anticoincidence seems staged as Covic claims that they did agree.

For those who are not aware, and they are few, Covic and Izetbegovic are coalition partners who have announced that they will integrate BiH and its citizens in the EU. The only remaining priority to be tackled is the issue of the rights of the Others.

In this instance, Covic and Izetbegovic only talk about themselves and not about the key problem of the national equality in BiH, which should be regulated by the verdict by the Strasbourg. When you put two of them together, you only get a big batch of pessimism.

The status of the candidate for BiH is expected by the end of 2017. Covic and Izetbegovic seem unable to present their vision except for the famous reform agenda.

The verdict 'Sejdic – Finci' is not a Croat issue but the issue of the position of the Others. The Others appear silent because the Constitutional are deaf to their requests.

'The deaf' say that the implementation of the Sejdic-Finci verdict will strengthen the state.

That is the court decision which must be implemented but these two want to go about it in their own way, according to their own vision for BiH.

One can cheat as much as he pleases, but he can't falsify life. There is no coexistence without equity for all. Should the Others finally have their rights, they could motivate all others to view BiH as the community for all. However, debates continue without any solution on the horizon.

Deadlines set by the politicians will soon expire. They are still far from finding solutions as each one of them has his own definition of equality and of the Others. No less than 150 meetings were held within 30 months on this topic, with 50 proposals on the table, yet no solution was found! What does make Covic believe that he can solve the problem in the next two months?

The Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina is still not tuned to the European Convention of Human Rights. According to the verdict Sejdic – Finci, a two-third majority in the state parliament must be created. There are already 14 parties sitting there, and it will be hard. However, BiH will not become a member of EU without it, as much as the ruling group talk about the progress and their work.

The European institutions keep silent but it is clear for everyone that the implementation of the Sejdic-Finci verdict is perceived as the most important test of the political and democratic maturity of BiH. The Sejdic – Finci verdict actually requests to start leaving the Dayton model, and to reduce the exclusivity of the constitutional nations, instead of increasing it.

And that is exactly where one can see the hypocrisy of the leaders who do not have anything else to say to the citizens. Standard of living and quality of life are poor, so the citizens of BiH are looking at the door to EU with wallets emptied of optimism.

The verdict of the European court in Strasbourg in the Sejdic – Finci case becomes more and more the verdict to the political setup lead by Covic and Izetbegovic. Which may seem very pessimistic to them.