A COUNTRY IN A POLITICAL COMA
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| Independent Social Democratic Party (SNSD) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) |
Bosnia and
Herzegovina (BIH) is today an ungovernable country where institutions are
blocked, power is shared at the citizens' expenses, and democracy itself is in
danger.
After a
long process to form the new government, the Council of Ministers is currently
in crisis. What is the political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina?
By
journalist and political analyst Almir Terzić
BIH LEADERS OF DIFFERENT POLITICAL
PARTIES AND ETHNIC BACKGROUND ACT ON NATIONAL BASIS
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) at the
moment is in a serious political crisis, to the point that it could be compared
to a comatose state. Since the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement (1995)
onwards, there have been more or less important crisis, but today's is by far
the largest. There has been no progress on the issue of the Euro-Atlantic path
from the second half of last term (2006-2010), but rather constant setbacks.
The last step was made in 2008, with the signing of the Stabilization and
Association Agreement with the EU. Stagnation has increased with the new
government after the parliamentary elections of 2010.
THE GOAL OF OLD POLITICAL ESTABLISHMENTS OF THE THREE
ENTITIES (MUSLIM,
ROMAN CATHOLIC AND SERBIAN ORTHODOX): KEEP BIH IN A STATE OF DISORDER
AS LONG AS POSSIBLE, IN ORDER TO REMAIN IN POWER.
One possible reason for all that is
the failure of the so-called “April package” of constitutional amendments.
Since then, the IC (International Community) has stepped out of the
decision-making process. The leaders of different political parties continue to
act only on a national basis, and in recent years have clearly demonstrated
that they cannot agree, and often do not even want to, because the introduction
of European legislation goes to their disadvantage. Their goal is to keep BiH
in a state of disorder as long as possible, because this is the only way
political leaders, under the guise of defending alleged national interests, can
remain in power. BiH was way ahead in the process of approaching the EU, but in
a very short time it ended up at the bottom of the race on a regional level.
INDEPENDENT SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY (SNSD) SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC
PARTY (SDP) APPEARS TO BE THE MAIN GENERATORS OF THE CURRENT CRISIS
 |
| Milorad Dodik (SNSD) and Zlatko Lagumdžija (SDP) |
The creation of a new parliamentary
majority in June 2012, a few months after the formation of the Council of
Ministers, has only increased the intensity of the divisions within the
country, behind the screen of a false defense of national interests. People
were expecting a lot more from the social-democratic option, particularly from
Milorad Dodik's Independent Social Democratic Party (SNSD) and Zlatko
Lagumdžija's Social Democratic Party (SDP). In the end, however, it turned out
that these two parties, in combination with the nationalists, are the main
generators of the crisis. This will surely last up to the elections in 2014,
with possible aggravations.
WHAT ARE THE REASONS FOR THE CURRENT
CONFLICT BETWEEN THE PARTY OF DEMOCRATIC ACTION (SDA) AND THE SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC
PARTY (SDP)?
The SDP, after a decade in the
opposition, had developed strong desires to govern, especially to strengthen
its position in the state-owned companies, where power is concentrated. The
Government of the Federation of BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA (FBiH), one of the two
entities in which the country is divided, for months after its formation has
dealt exclusively with the appointment of directors of companies and public
institutions. Allegedly, the conflict broke out between SDP and SDA because of
the latter's opposition to the adoption of the budget for 2012. In fact, the
reasons are much deeper.
The SDP wanted to amend the Law on
Internal Affairs of FBIH, in order to dismantle the independence of the police
and rule the media, primarily the federal television (FTV). The SDA opposed
this. The SDP also obtained companies, formerly run by the Party for Bosnia and
Herzegovina (Stranka za BiH), SDA's partner in the previous government. The
financial situation of these companies was not a brilliant one to say the least,
so the SDP sought to expand its influence in one of the most profitable state
run companies: TELEKOM. The SDA, however, tenaciously defended this company
from being controlled by the SDP, which was the straw that broke the camel's
back.
The SDP decided to discontinue any
relationship with the SDA and began to fire its public servants. It found a
strong partner in the BiH Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ BiH), another party
only interested in positions of power. The bitter rivals joined to pursue the
division of the state treasury in the interests of the party, under the false
claim of defending national interests.
WHAT IS THE TRUE MEANING OF THE
AGREEMENT RECENTLY SIGNED BETWEEN SNSD AND SDP?
What are
the reasons for the strong reaction expressed by NGOs such as Center of Civil Society,
and why does the agreement not mention the Sejdić–Finci verdict?
A detailed look at the agreement
shows that Lagumdžija and Dodik want to turn into another BELARUS and play the
role of undisputed lords. Lagumdžija would become the lord of the FBIH, Dodik
of REPUBLIKA SRPSKA (RS). Dodik already is, but the agreement with Lagumdžija
would keep him there for the next years, perhaps decades. Considering that the
proposed amendment of the electoral law, contained in the Agreement, provides
for the closure of the list of candidates, means that the next seats in
parliament and assemblies would belong to political parties rather than those
who are elected. The introduction of the so-called "imperative
mandate" is the worst form of suffocation of democratic processes and
demonstrates the complete disregard of citizens' will.
Lagumdžija and Dodik also want to
eliminate the main centre of the counting of votes at the state level, which
only in the last elections unveiled 100 attempts at electoral fraud. Were it
not for this control system, all those irregularities would have passed and the
election results would have been far different in many municipalities. If the
elections were conducted by the electoral commissions of entities and
municipalities, as suggested in the Agreement, not only would the electoral
process in BiH fall apart, but this would open up the possibility of
manipulation and electoral engineering.
CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS PROMPTED THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE
TO INTERVENE IN DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACY IN BIH
This is a really crucial aspect
which would guarantee the presidents of SDP and SNSD maximum durability in
power, no matter the will of voters, who have significantly reduced their
preferences for these two parties in the last administrative elections. SDP and
SNSD fear defeat in the 2014 elections, and with this agreement they seek to
avoid it. Civil society organizations, for the first time, have opposed all
together (300) and prompted local and international institutions, primarily the
Council of Europe, to do something in defense of democracy in BiH.
The agreement between Dodik and Lagumdžija
also contains an attack on the independence of the judiciary, in particular
through the proposed amendments to the system of appointment of judges, which
would be transferred from the High Council of the Judiciary to the parliament.
Other problematic issues relate to the functioning of the Central Bank and
public energy companies also are at stake. The verdict of the Strasbourg Court
in the case of Sejdić-Finci, on the issue of ethnic exclusivity for certain
public offices, was not taken into account simply because it would be against
the interests of political leaders and in favor of citizens'.
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IN THIS SCENARIO?
In recent years, the IC in BIH has
adopted a rather passive role. The Office of the High Representative (OHR) has
virtually disappeared; the OSCE mission now acts more as a consultant than
anything else, just like the office of the COUNCIL OF EUROPE. The same can be
argued for the Delegation of the European Commission in Sarajevo and his
representative, Peter Sorensen, from whom BIH expected much more in terms of
pressure on local politicians to lead the country along the Euro-Atlantic
integration path.
The interests of parties continue to
be dominant over those of citizens, which is why the country is in a state of “political
coma”. Rumors that the Lagumdžija–Dodik agreement is supported by the IC seems
somewhat farfetched, or otherwise Stefano Sannino, Director General for the EU
enlargement, would not have written a letter to the BIH government, warning it
not to touch the resources of the state electricity company.
If the IC exerted more pressure on
the government to achieve these goals, the political landscape of BIH would
change. The greatest progress and reforms in BIH were made between 2002 and
2006, when the international community had an important role to play in
decision-making processes.
SOLUTIONS TO RESOLVE THE POLITICAL
CRISIS IN BIH?
Party leaders should cater for the
welfare of citizens. But this is not about to happen, they have already proven
they do not want to. Under current circumstance and by excluding SDA from an
agreement, the political crisis will last at least two more years.
2014 elections will be an
opportunity to move ahead. Amending the electoral law and introducing
compulsory voting at least for the 2014 election would improve the situation.
It is not an anti-democratic measure; it has also been applied in developed
countries such as Finland, Belgium, and Australia.
This system would
de-legitimize forever parties' claims of having the citizens' full support.
That 40-45% of entitled voters refrain from voting, because they are displeased
with the country’s political disarray, could change the outcome. Should the
situation remain the same after 2014, however, one could say that it is the
will of the citizens of BiH. Until then, nor Dodik nor Lagumdžija can be
leaders in BiH, because the votes they obtained is hardly ten per cent of the
whole electorate.
Related articles on BIH:
6 PART ARTICLE ON WAHHABISM IN BIH:
Almir Terzić is a journalist of Sarajevo's daily
Oslobođenje. He has chronicled the internal political work of the Parliament
and of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the electoral
process, and the work of international organizations in the country for over
ten years. He is the author of policy and electoral analysis on Bosnia and
Herzegovina, on the electoral law, conflict of interest law, and party
financing law. Transparency International BiH published his analysis of the
election campaign during the elections of 2010, and he collaborated in the
publication "A critical analysis of the electoral law" on the Bosnian
electoral system, published by the Centre for Civil Initiatives (CCI) of Bosnia
Herzegovina with the support of the Council of Europe. He is a member of the
advisory group set up under the project "Study of the social integrity
system in BiH 2011", funded by the European Union Delegation in BiH and
implemented by Transparency International BiH. He is a consultant on election
legislation matters for the CCI BiH and member of Transparency International
BiH and the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Sarajevo.
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