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MOSTAR, March 4 (FENA) - Together we can make a step forward in resolving problems and seeking solutions to create stability in BiH, stated today the HDZ BiH President and House of Peoples Speaker Dragan Čović said after a meeting held on Wednesday in Mostar with the SDA delegation led by the party president Bakir Izetbegović.
“The key to the stability of our relations lies in the trust that will be recognized through the electoral process, which has been repeatedly emphasized. One people should not elect other people’s representatives, that is, that we have legitimate representatives of constituent peoples at all levels of government in accordance with the Constitution of BiH.
We want to jointly resolve the stalemates that we currently have at different levels of government by contributing together, to establish the government as soon as possible, and that it functions normally at the level of BiH and at lower levels and that is where we have shown a level of partnership in seeking solutions,” Čović said.
Čović added that local issues were also discussed, namely, holding the elections in Mostar and the problem of the regional landfill at Uborak.
“As for the elections in Mostar, I assure you they will be held, and now we should try to come to the solutions in the parliamentary procedure. On the issue of Uborak, we asked representatives of both political options in Mostar to make a joint statement where we, from higher levels of government, together with other domestic and international financial institutions, could help make a systemic solution to the problem of landfill in Mostar,” said Čović.
A common assessment regarding the migrant crisis is that it is urgent to hold a session of the BiH Council of Ministers, Čović added.
“At this session, we have to eliminate the problems of our organization, because it will be too late when and if tens of thousands of people enter Bosnia and Herzegovina without knowing the rules and how to approach these people,” said Čović.
He added that many of the two parties' views have been somewhat aligned today, but that they are still far from being able to say that they have agreed on all strategic issues.
“For the HDZ a priority is the electoral legislation and to ensure a maximum standard in holding elections in Mostar. For us, any solutions beyond those that would be accepted in the parliamentary procedure are unacceptable, and in this way we give a special dimension to BiH that it is ready to deal with problems, because any imposed solution would significantly distance us when it comes to our European path,” underlined Čović.
The SDA President Bakir Izetbegović said that no strategic issues were resolved at today's meeting, but that the two parties should continue to talk.
“I am not optimistic that we can resolve this quickly, because the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH, the Human Rights Court in Strasbourg, the aspirations of the HDZ and the HNS and our views, as well as those of the left-wing and civic-oriented parties in BiH, all must be harmonized.
This formula is not easy to find, but it cannot be said to be impossible, I think there is a chance. The HDZ BiH and the SDA need to continue to talk and, above all, we should have a common response to this blockade and the crisis we are experiencing in BiH, and there is indeed a partnership here,” Izetbegović said.
He added that the two parties view the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH in an equal manner.
“All the decisions of this Court must be respected according to priorities and we agree here, but regarding the very composition of the Constitutional Court of BiH, we do not see things equally.
The HDZ believes that foreign judges should be replaced by domestic judges, which the SDA agrees with, but it is a matter of when is the right time to do this. We do not think this can be done at the present time. This needs to be addressed through the negotiations that would take place after the blockade ends and through the implementation of the 14 priorities set by the European Commission,” said the SDA president.
As for the Mostar elections, Izetbegović adds that there have been some changes at the local level. According to him, the HDZ BiH and the SDA have drawn their views closer to one another on how to elect councilors to the City Council. He added that the SDA insisted on the statute and hoped that some progress would be made by the end of the month.
Izetbegović points out that these two parties urgently need to address the issue of the migrant crisis and the migrant wave that is moving from Greece to Europe as a matter of urgency.
“Bosnia and Herzegovina will surely feel the intensity of this crisis and we think that we should support the Council of Ministers of BiH and the Ministry of Security of BiH, find the necessary resources and make quick decisions to protect our border so as to prevent the potential chaos in BiH that could occur if we do not respond and work quickly. The ministry is making maximum effort, but they cannot do it alone, everyone should get involved,” Izetbegović stressed.
According to him, certain agreements have been reached between the two parties regarding the Uborak landfill.
“First of all, this is, of course, a problem of the city and the canton city, but the Government of the Federation of BiH will do its part. We have accelerated the process and we have a systemic approach to get everyone involved in organizational and financial terms,” said Izetbegović.
The HDZ BiH President Dragan Čović and the SDA President Bakir Izetbegović finally stressed that the relations between the two parties are good and that the culture of dialogue will surely continue in the future.
(FENA) S. R.
