The upcoming general election in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be the turning point for Bosnia’s reform and European Integration processes, said Croatia’s Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, adding that this is an important moment for the country and its citizens.
“This election will be the turning point for the reform process as well as for Bosnia’s European integration process, and it is especially important for the position of the Croat people in Bosnia. As the least numerous constituent people in that country, it is important that they use their right to vote in the best possible way and that their turnout is as big as possible this Sunday,” Plenkovic said in an interview with ‘Vecernji list’ daily.
He expressed his wish that this election be held in a democratic spirit, but that is also is the result of a “true will of the Croat people in Bosnia, which should be represented in Bosnia’s institutions by legitimate representatives.”
In that context, he added that the parties, members of the Croat National Assembly (HNS) must ensure legitimate representation of the Croat people at all levels of government, including Bosnia’s tripartite Presidency.
“Achieving political consensus between key parties in Bosnia on amendments to the state Election Law and the implementation of the Constitutional Court’s decision would be in the interest of the entire country,” Plenkovic noted. “Such an agreement would mean that Bosnia is ready to surpass the differences and ensure stability and unity of the country which can go forward and commit to important economic and social issues.”
“Therefore, I believe the model in which one people can elect other people’s political representative in Bosnia’s Presidency is unsustainable.”
Bosnia's state-level Election Law has been a burning issue since two years ago when the Constitutional Court ruled that some of its provisions were violating the state Constitution.
Four parties – the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), the Alliance for Better Future (SBB), the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Democratic Front (DF), with support of the Our Party, agreed earlier on a law proposal that defines the geographical constituencies and the number of mandates in the Parliament of the FBiH, Bosnia's entity shared by Bosniaks and Croats, hoping they would solve the current political crisis that hinders the progress of the country.
Another issue stems from the structure of the state. It is composed of two semi-autonomous entities – one dominated by the Serbs, the other shared by Bosniaks and Croats. Bosnia’s three-member presidency consists of a Serb chosen from the Serb-dominated entity called the Republika Srpska (RS) entity, the other two from the Bosniak-Croat entity – the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH). However, because they are numerically almost four times stronger, Bosniaks can elect both the Bosniak and the Croat member in the entity the two share. This defies the Constitution which guarantees that each of the three groups can elect their own representatives.
Plenkovic also stated that by supporting the Croat people in Bosnia, the Republic of Croatia is supporting the economic development of the entire Bosnia and that Croatian authorities are ready to help the new Bosnian authorities with its political, expert and technical capacities so that Bosnia’s European integration process would speed up as much as possible.
