News in English     | 07.06.2021. 15:17 |

Čović in Banjaluka: Deadline for agreement with SDA expires in ten days

FENA Adriana Domazet

BANJA LUKA, June 7 (FENA) - HDZ BiH President Dragan Čović says that the deadline for reaching an agreement with the SDA on changes to the BiH Election Law expires in ten days, and that there will be no new bilateral talks between HDZ BiH representatives and SDA after that date.

“We had the obligation to sit down with the SDA and agree on the Presidency and the House of Peoples, and after that everyone would discuss the package of all other reforms. I still expect to reach an agreement before June 17 (the date we signed the Mostar agreement last year). After that date, there will be no more bilateral talks with the SDA on the subject. We have exhausted the conversation and now we need to move to a higher level to see if anything can be done,” said Čović after the meeting of the HDZ BiH delegation with the SNSD delegation, led by the party's president Milorad Dodik.

As Čović and Dodik said at the press conference, the meeting focused on the reform of the election legislation and the European path of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Čović said that the Croat side was primarily interested in resolving the issue of electing members of the Presidency of BiH from the Federation of BiH and in appointing the empty seats of the House of Peoples of FBiH.

“The solution for the Presidency is very simple: to ensure the elections of a Croat and Bosniak member of the Presidency of BiH, not by Croats and Bosniaks together. The two constituencies should each vote for their own member,” said Čović.

When it comes to appointing the empty seats at the House of Peoples of FBiH, he added that the structure of that body should reflect the structure of the population of the Federation of BiH, i.e. the latest census.

“Personally, I think that we have solutions on the table for a long time and that there are no new modalities, the only question is whether we want to do something or not,” said the first man of the HDZ BiH.

Dodik not in favor of early elections

Dodik said that he has good cooperation with the HDZ BiH and that this cooperation is not exclusive for all other political entities, especially Bosniak ones.

“We will continue to harmonize our views, aware that there is an issue such as NATO, where our views are completely different and should not be emphasized again. HDZ, for understandable reasons, believes that BiH should be included in the integration process, and we from SNSD do not think so. We respect those views, both of them. We have a high degree of agreement on all other issues,” said Dodik.

According to him, HDZ BiH and SNSD agreed on the coordination of the parliamentary cauceses of the two parties, so that everything that is agreed will pass the parliamentary procedure and the Council of Ministers of BiH faster.

When it comes to the election of members of the Presidency of BiH, Dodik said that in Republika Srpska there is a consensus that one member from RS should be elected directly in the elections.

“We also cannot accept the deletion of the names of the constituent peoples and in that regard, we believe that it should remain and that it is a guarantee to build BiH on the basis of the constituency of the peoples. Only on the basis of that concept, BiH can act. That is the constitutional and Dayton category,” Dodik stated.

He added that SNSD and HDZ BiH agree that the dates of local and general elections in BiH should not be merged and that the institute of early elections should not be introduced because, as he said, it would only create additional chaos in the country.

Also, SNSD and HDZ BiH believe that within the amendments to the Election Law, it should be defined that the mandate won in the elections belongs to the party.

Dodik and Čović in favor of shutting down the OHR

Dodik commented on the election of a new high representative of the international community for BiH, reiterating that the SNSD is in favor of shutting down the Office of the High Representative (OHR).

“We agree that the OHR should be closed and it should be ensured that the Constitutional Court has only domestic judges. Regarding the arrival of the new High Representative, the position of the SNSD is clear: we are not ready to accept anyone who does not pass the verification, that is, the election procedure as provided by Annex 10 of the Dayton Agreement,” said Dodik.

Čović added that he welcomed the arrival of Christian Schmidt in BiH and that he expected him to carry out the transformation, i.e. the closure of the OHR.

“We cannot go towards candidate status, and at the same time have a certain form of protectorate, and the OHR is a certain form of protectorate. I welcome the arrival of Schmidt and I expect that he will launch our transition to candidate status in the way of shutting down the Office of the High Representative,” Čović concluded.

(FENA) L. N.

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