se times
01/11/2010
Quarrelling between the winning parties holds up formation of a government, while calls for a third entity threaten to divide the country further.
By Bedrana Kaletovic and Ljiljana Kovacevic in Sarajevo and Banja Luka for Southeast European Times -- 01/11/10
Quarrelling between the winning parties holds up formation of a government, while calls for a third entity threaten to divide the country further.
By Bedrana Kaletovic and Ljiljana Kovacevic in Sarajevo and Banja Luka for Southeast European Times -- 01/11/10
Almost a month after the general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina there are still no signs of a new state government. The process has been tied up because of poor relations between the two parties that won the October 3rd vote -- the Social Democratic Party (SDP) BiH, led by Zlatko Lagumdzija, and Milorad Dodik's Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD).
The two leaders are former allies, having joined forces a decade ago in the Alliance for Change. Now they spar over what Lagumdzija sees as a campaign by Dodik to break up the country, and what Dodik sees as an attempt to impose a Bosniak agenda.
"It is clear that among the winners in the elections, there is no matching programme, and that the new government will continue the tradition of division," says Senad Pecanin, editor in chief of the Sarajevo magazine Dani.
Dodik's SNSD is demanding that a Croat take over the Council of Ministers for the next four years, in keeping with an unwritten rule. But the SDP says it is the real winner of the elections and wants Lagumdzija to be the next president of the council.
"If Lagumdzija insists on becoming the next chairman of the Council of Ministers and if Dodik persists in disagreeing, then there's no possibility of a two-party coalition. Just one of the two should let go from insistence and we'd have a coalition. Whether this will happen is hard to say," Pecanin told SETimes.
Complicating the post-election atmosphere further, Dodik has teamed up with Dragan Covic, leader of an ethnic Croat party in the Federation of BiH (FBiH), to call for the creation of a third entity.
Covic and his HDZ party complain that Croats are not equal under the constitution and that the Croatian member of the tripartite presidency is not elected only by Croat voters, but also by Bosniaks.
According to Dodik, the FBiH should be divided in order to create the new unit, while Republika Srpska should remain intact.
The two leaders are former allies, having joined forces a decade ago in the Alliance for Change. Now they spar over what Lagumdzija sees as a campaign by Dodik to break up the country, and what Dodik sees as an attempt to impose a Bosniak agenda.
"It is clear that among the winners in the elections, there is no matching programme, and that the new government will continue the tradition of division," says Senad Pecanin, editor in chief of the Sarajevo magazine Dani.
Dodik's SNSD is demanding that a Croat take over the Council of Ministers for the next four years, in keeping with an unwritten rule. But the SDP says it is the real winner of the elections and wants Lagumdzija to be the next president of the council.
"If Lagumdzija insists on becoming the next chairman of the Council of Ministers and if Dodik persists in disagreeing, then there's no possibility of a two-party coalition. Just one of the two should let go from insistence and we'd have a coalition. Whether this will happen is hard to say," Pecanin told SETimes.
Complicating the post-election atmosphere further, Dodik has teamed up with Dragan Covic, leader of an ethnic Croat party in the Federation of BiH (FBiH), to call for the creation of a third entity.
Covic and his HDZ party complain that Croats are not equal under the constitution and that the Croatian member of the tripartite presidency is not elected only by Croat voters, but also by Bosniaks.
According to Dodik, the FBiH should be divided in order to create the new unit, while Republika Srpska should remain intact.
Mladen Ivanic, a former prime minister of Republika Srspka and president of the Party for Democratic Progress, says the idea is tantamount to reviving the BiH conflict.
"No Bosniak party would agree to creation of the third entity," Ivanic told SETimes."That means new confrontations and a new conference guaranteeing peace, and nobody wants that again. I am against the idea of a third entity, and especially against the way Republika Srpska is taking part in negotiations on the issue, since [the proposed Croat entity] won't be formed on its territory."
"HDZ should first talk about the issue with the parties in the Federation, not seek partners among parties in Republika Srpska" he said. Enver Kazaz, a political analyst, considers the "Dodik-Covic axis" extremely dangerous because it could create an unneeded political crisis in the country.
"The best thing for HDZ of Bosnia and Herzegovina is to become involved with authorities on the federal level in its full capacity, together with the leading parties in the Federation, which would marginalise Dodik's influence in the state parliament," he said
This content was commissioned for SETimes.com.
"No Bosniak party would agree to creation of the third entity," Ivanic told SETimes."That means new confrontations and a new conference guaranteeing peace, and nobody wants that again. I am against the idea of a third entity, and especially against the way Republika Srpska is taking part in negotiations on the issue, since [the proposed Croat entity] won't be formed on its territory."
"HDZ should first talk about the issue with the parties in the Federation, not seek partners among parties in Republika Srpska" he said. Enver Kazaz, a political analyst, considers the "Dodik-Covic axis" extremely dangerous because it could create an unneeded political crisis in the country.
"The best thing for HDZ of Bosnia and Herzegovina is to become involved with authorities on the federal level in its full capacity, together with the leading parties in the Federation, which would marginalise Dodik's influence in the state parliament," he said
This content was commissioned for SETimes.com.
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