Bosnian misery continues, and that means further stagnation, German MP Michael Brand told Deutsche Welle. The real indicator of the situation in the country is the number of youth leaving the country, he adds.
“Nationalist parties are still in power and they are shamelessly blocking the country. The fact that voters don’t expect anything from the election can be seen in the low turnout, which was even lower than last time,” said Michael Brand who lived in Sarajevo for some time as a student. “The real indicator of the situation in the country is the huge number of skilled youths leaving the country.”
Bosnia and Herzegovina held a general election on Sunday, October 7, where the citizens voted for three Presidency members, the state and entity parliaments and cantonal assemblies in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) entity.
According to the state election watchdog, the future three presidency members are Sefik Dzaferovic, from among the Bosniak people, Zeljko Komsic from among the Croat people and Milorad Dodik from among the Serb people.
Commenting on these results the Christian Democratic Union’s (CDU) MP said that the newly elected state Presidency member from among the Serb People, Milorad Dodik, is a “political firebug.”
“How can someone who’s fighting against his own country seriously represent its interests? He’s going to continue to block the country and to set political fires where ever he can,” the Bundestag member said.
Speaking about the victory of Zeljko Komsic over Dragan Covic for the Presidency member from among the Croat people, whose legitimacy is contested by all the major Croat parties in the country on the grounds that Komsic’s election is not legitimate because he was not elected by Croats, but by Bosniaks, Brand said Komsic’s victory is the result of Covic’s wrong, nationalist approach.
“Covic’s statement directed to Bosniaks right after the election: ‘You can’t elect Croats’ Presidency member’ reveals his bad approach for two reasons: First, attacking the voters is always inappropriate, and second, it reveals his completely wrong, nationalist views because we’re talking of Bosnia’s presidency, not Croatia’s,” Brand noted.
“Unlike Covic, Komsic is clearly committed to Bosnia. He sets his country’s interests first, then his party’s interests and lastly his own. This is a very appealing political motto for Bosnians. As far as (Sefik) Dzaferovic (the Presidency member from among the Bosniak people) is concerned, he has yet to prove that he can break free from the shadow of Bakir Izetbegovic (the outgoing Presidency member from the Bosniak people), who often didn’t play a positive role,” Brand concluded.
