Although police in Sarajevo called on those protesting in front of the Office of the High Representative (OHR) to disperse, many citizens refuse to leave, demanding that BiH’s international administrator gives up on his plan to impose electoral reform.
The heavily secured massive protest was supposed to end at 9 p.m. on Monday, and those involved announced that they will gather again the next day.
However, Dervo Sejdic, who won a discrimination case against Bosnia at the European Court of Human Rights, urged those still present to remain and other citizens to provide food for the protesters.
Thus, protesters will spend the night in front of the OHR, after they reached an agreement with local police.
Last week, N1 broke the story that, according to several diplomatic sources, Schmidt plans to use his ‘Bonn Powers’ to impose measures for the re-functioning of Bosnia’s Federation (FBiH) entity by August 1. This includes changes to the country’s election law.
While Schmidt’s plan was welcomed by Bosnian Croat political parties, most notably the Croat Democratic Union (HDZ BiH), opponents argue the changes would lead to further systematic divisions in the country based on ethnicity.
The Vice President of Bosnia’s Federation (FBiH) entity, Milan Dunovic, told N1 that Schmidt's plan is “uncivilized”.
“If such a proposal is imposed, it will result in a complete ethnic division of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the goals of the war will be implemented in peace,” Dunovic warned.
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No major incidents were reported at the protest, but some tension emerged when protesters tried to prevent BiH Presidency member Sefik Dzaferovic, a member of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), from addressing the crowd.
Dzaferovic eventually managed to express his message to the High Representative, urging him to refrain from imposing the election law changes.
Pedja Kojovic, from Nasa Stranka (Our Party), as well as a number of other politicians, immediately left the protest and said Dzaferovic was abusing the gathering for political gains.
Later, Kojovic’s party, along with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the People and Jsutice party (NIP) issued a statement, saying that the SDA tried to “kidnap” the protest.
However, the leader of the Union for a Better Future, Fahrudin Radoncic, sided with Dzaferovic, arguing that the Presidency member had the right to speak at the gathering.
Pregovori građana i policije. pic.twitter.com/WArE9u6xdo
— TV N1 Sarajevo (@N1infoSA) July 25, 2022
One of the protesters N1 spoke to, an elderly woman, said she was “disappointed” with Schmidt’s plan.
“For centuries, we Bosniaks have advocated that there are no privileged nations, religions and ideologies at the expense of others. And that the freedom of each person is limited by the freedom of another. And how does it come back to us? What is Europe doing, what are these politicians doing?” she asked.
“I just feel so outraged that I can't believe such a thing exists. In the 21st century, to punish us with genocide, to punish us with such decisions,” the woman added.
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