ZAGREB, November 15, 2018 – Vesna Pusić of the opposition Civic and Liberal Alliance (GLAS) said in the Croatian parliament on Wednesday that the results of the October 7 general election in Bosnia and Herzegovina showed that two-thirds of Croats eligible to vote did not want to support Dragan Čović in the race for the position of Croat member of the country’s tripartite presidency and that this was most likely why Željko Komšić won the Bosnian elections.
“If anything is obvious from the election results in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it’s that two-thirds of Croats eligible to vote didn’t want to vote for Dragan Čović and this is most likely why Željko Komšić was elected,” Pusić said during discussion on the prime minister’s report on European Council meetings and a meeting of eurozone countries, held in June and November.
“Since Komšić has been elected member of the presidency, I guess it’s in the interests of Croatia and all Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina that he does his job as well as possible, promoting the interests of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Pusić said, adding that the fundamental interest of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina is that the country succeeds on its path to European Union membership.
She commented on the fact that parliament should soon discuss a declaration on the status of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina. “Imagine if Serbia, Slovenia or Hungary adopted a declaration in parliament demanding changes to the Croatian constitution and electoral law, everyone here would jump to their feet and say it was unacceptable,” the former foreign minister said.
Lawmakers from the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) praised the prime minister for managing to push through the issue of the Bosnia and Herzegovina election in the EU.
Joško Klisović of the strongest opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) said that the prime minister’s intervention in the European Council had been necessary, but that it was insufficient and belated. “You don’t think we raised the subject of electoral law with our partners only after the election?” Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said, adding that previously the subject had not been raised “in a coordinated and harmonised manner.”
“The problem is that those who should hear it at that level do not see this as a problem until it escalates,” Plenković said.
The international community’s High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Valentin Inzko, said on Wednesday he understood the dissatisfaction of the Croat people in the country over the election of Željko Komšić as their representative in the collective BiH presidency, warning however that it must be recognised that his election was lawful just as the election of Dragan Čović.
In an interview with BHT 1 public broadcaster, Inzko said Čović was elected four years ago under the same regulations, urging politicians to form a government at all levels as soon as possible.
The new tripartite presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, elected at the October 7 election, will be inaugurated on November 20, authorities in Sarajevo announced on Wednesday.
For more on the relations between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, click here.
