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SARAJEVO, December 30 (FENA) - President of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) Bakir Izetbegović summed up today the year he said was very difficult “perhaps the most difficult post-war year, although it started well in the first quarter.”
That part of the year was promising. At the time, BiH's path to NATO was unblocked, a new convocation of the BiH Council of Ministers was appointed, and economic indicators in 2019 were the best in the post-Dayton period.
“And then came the pandemic that hit the whole world. Life stopped, we witnessed everything that used to be crowded completely shut down. In BiH, the first wave was easier, but psychologically it was harder because we were just getting used to the pandemic, the second wave hit us harder, but we welcomed it better prepared,” Izetbegović added.
Yet wages have remained stable as have pensions and disability benefits, and although 13,000 jobs have been lost, it should not be forgotten that in other countries the number is in the millions, noting that entity governments have successfully eased the consequences of the pandemic.
He commented on the work of the BiH Council of Ministers, which he said was the worst convocation since the budget was delayed, indolence was shown in relation to local elections, and the burden of the migrant crisis was put on only one ministry.
Also, BiH's path to the European Union has slowed down, says Izetbegović, the result of the inaction of the BiH Council of Ministers, regardless of the efforts of some ministers.
Speaking about the actions of HDZ and SNSD, he assessed that they work in a coordinated manner, and although HDZ does not cause direct damage like those done by SNSD, they also slow down the reform processes.
He reminded that there is still a problem of the Constitutional Court, but also on, as he emphasized, the arrogant attitude of SNSD leader Milorad Dodik at the session of the UN Security Council to which SDA, SNSD and HDZ leaders were invited.
Izetbegović refused to attend the session because he said he refused to agree to the statement that BiH is a simple sum of three peoples and because he believes that the state should be represented by democratically elected officials and representatives of BiH institution.
But after that, the plaque was removed from the Student Dormitory in Pale, which bore the name of war criminal Radovan Karadžić.
There is also the so-called "Icon" affair, with which Dodik, Izetbegović notes, created a diplomatic scandal by receiving Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov without state symbols and giving him an icon of dubious origin.
SDA leader says that 2020 was the year of elections. Croatia got a new president, Zoran Milanović, whose statements he did not want to comment on, expressing condolences and support to the citizens of Croatia affected by the devastating earthquake.
According to Izetbegović, Montenegro has a new government that does not promise stability, and in the United States, the new president is Joe Biden, who he said is a friend of BiH who is expected to engage more actively in BiH in order to achieve much-needed reforms.
Local elections were held in BiH, including elections in Mostar, a city where there had been no elections for 12 years. Those elections brought changes, mostly because the united opposition in urban centers won over voters.
He also referred to the turmoil within the SDA and noted that the party was left to change within itself or to risk weakening, but announced that the SDA would change within itself and give young people a chance.
(FENA) L. N.
