ZAGREB, January 22, 2018 – The president of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity, Marinko Čavara, of the Croat HDZ BiH party in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), has said that Bosniak parties do not want to consent to amending the country’s election law and give up on their political domination, which is making Croats push more for a third entity in the country.
“If they do not wish to implement the law, adhere to the Constitution and the Constitutional Court’s decisions on the election of legitimate representatives and if unconstitutional solutions are being passed in the Federation parliament, then it is only logical that Croats are saying, more and more frequently, that there is no other solution but a third entity,” Cavara said in an interview with Monday’s local edition of the Večernji List daily. He added that political parties in Sarajevo “are forcing Serbs to seek solutions outside Bosnia and Herzegovina that are aimed at establishing an independent Republika Srpska.”
The country’s Constitutional Court has abolished provisions of the election law enabling the more numerous Bosniak population to elect Croat representatives in certain cantons to the upper, ethnically composed, House of Peoples and in that way establish a government in the Federation entity and at the national level. Under that law, it was possible for Bosnian Podrinje Canton with 24 Croats to elect one representative to the House of Peoples, as it was in Posavina Canton, which has a Croat community of 36,000.
In the meantime, parties making up the Croat National Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina have recommended amendments to the election law that would establish a system of proportionality. Čavara underscored that not one Bosniak party wished to refrain from outvoting the Croats.
“All (Bosniak) parties reject the possibility of Croats electing their legitimate representatives, which very clearly indicates an attempt at absolute domination. When they are publicly trying to impose a solution that is aimed at outvoting one people and electing its representatives, then the only possible conclusion is that the Bosniak political elites do not wish this country well,” Čavara added.
Commenting on Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović’s recent visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Čavara said that it was the continuation of policies aimed at resolving all issues between the two countries and their peoples in normal circumstances. “That is obvious to everyone, just as it is clear that each neighbour wants stability in the region. That is why Croatia wants to help the Federation entity and the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina to function normally,” Čavara concluded.
