Bosnian Croat opposition parties reject Plenkovic’s call to back Filipovic

Croat Republican Party leader Slaven Raguz said on Tuesday after a meeting with Plenkovic in Mostar that opposition parties had clearly refused to back the proposed candidate.

He described the meeting as constructive but said Plenkovic had sought support for the HDZ BiH candidate without prior dialogue with Croat opposition parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Raguz said representatives of the five-party Croat opposition bloc rejected what he described as an attempt to impose a solution.

He added that the upcoming general election in autumn could open space for the election of a legitimate Croat member of the Presidency, arguing that potential candidates lack the political weight previously held by Zeljko Komsic.

A day earlier, Plenkovic publicly supported Filipovic’s candidacy, saying she had the best chances of winning.

The opposition parties, which have suspended participation in the Croat National Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, have yet to decide whether they will field a candidate, with media reports suggesting a decision could come next week and that a non-party candidate is being considered.

Zeljko Komsic has been elected four times as the Croat member of the Presidency, while his Democratic Front party has announced Slaven Kovacevic as its candidate.

Croats are outnumbered by Bosniaks in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where both the Croat and Bosniak members of the Presidency are elected, while the Serb member is elected from Republika Srpska from where huge numbers of Bosniaks and Croats have been persecuted, uprooted or killed.