Azem KurticSarajevoBIRNFebruary 1, 202316:24The formation of a government in Bosnia’s largest entity remains uncertain, as the ruling coalition there continues to split into opposing factions
A Bosnian woman casts her vote in the general elections in Sarajevo, Bosnia, 2 October 2022. Photo: EPA-EFE/FEHIM DEMIR
The formation of a government in the Bosniak and Croat-dominated Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the bigger of Bosnia’s two entities, remains on hold since the October 2022 election, as the governing coalition that promised its quick formation falls apart.
Nermin Niksic, head of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, one of the members of the so-called “Osmorka” (Eight), which comprises eight Bosniak and civic parties in the entity, said formation of the government likely won’t be possible without further intervention by the international community’s High Representative, Christian Schmidt.
“We have an open announcement from the SDA [the main Bosniak party] that they will not support the selection of the prime minister,” Niksic said on TV.
“Then we have a blockage, and the only mechanism for unblocking the processes is in the hands of the High Representative,” he added.
His appearance followed a meeting of the coalition partners on Tuesday, after which they broke into two blocs.
In mid-December last year, the same coalition formed a state-level government together with the main Bosnian Serb party, the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, SNSD, and the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ.
That then broke apart over a disputed property law in Bosnia’s Serb-dominated entity Republika Srpska. Two of the parties left the coalition in protest, only 20 days after the coalition deal was made.
The current ministers in the Federation entity government were elected back in 2015, following the 2014 elections. Since 2018, they have been serving in a technical mandate as a result of blocked political processes.
The blockage, which has been used as a tool to negotiate election law changes, was removed with the latest intervention of the High Representative, Cristian Schmidt, minutes after most voting stations closed on the night of October 2 last year.
Using his substantial so-called “Bonn-powers”, Schmidt set new deadlines for the formation of a Federation government, increased the number of representatives in the House of Peoples of the Federation assembly and changed the rules on how and when the president and two vice-presidents of the entity can be elected.
Many found his intervention controversial. During a hearing before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the British parliament on Monday, Schmidt said that he had “unblocked processes, but it is not his job to form the government.”
A rapid breakthrough looks unlikely. While one bloc has a majority in the entity House of Representatives, Osmorka, another bloc has a majority in the House of Peoples – the SDA and Democratic Front. Both houses together need to elect the president and two vice-presidents who then appoint ministers.
Meanwhile, HDZ leader Dragan Covic on Wednesday predicted that a government in the Federation will be elected by mid-February. “I believe that we will have a new FBiH prime minister in the next 15 days,” he said.
But the election of a prime minister will be possible only if the coalition crumbles completely and a new one is formed.
Source link: balkaninsight.com
