SARAJEVO – Eight months after the general elections, new Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina is still not formed, and one of the main stumbling block remains the adoption of NATO Annual National Programme (ANP), writes Klix.ba.
According to the portal, the winners of the elections – Serbian SNSD, Bosniak SDA and Croat HDZ BiH – have reached a deal on the general distribution of portfolios, but are still far from announcing the names of new ministers.
Zoran Tegeltija, SNSD’s nominee for the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, was not supported by Presidency Members Šefik Džaferović and Željko Komšić, because of SNSD’s opposition to the adoption of ANP.
It is not only the party lead by Presidency member Milorad Dodik that is against further cooperation with the Alliance, portal reminds. All Serbian members of the current Council of Ministers, some of which are coming from other parties, also oppose the adoption of ANP.
On the other hand, Bosniak political parties are unwilling to compromise over this issue. Klix.ba writes that they are aware their electorate will not forgive them giving up on NATO, which they see as the only guarantee of stability and integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Only Croatian parties have so far shown preparedness to drop these conditions.
Preda: This situation cannot go on any further
Speaking for the Nezavisne newspaper, European Parliament’s Rapporteur for Bosnia and Herzegovina Christian Dan Preda stressed that the long process of government formation is hurting the country’s chances for receiving an EU candidate status and significantly slowing down its overall integration process.
“We have gotten used to the fact that the government formation takes time in this country, due to the complexity of its political and institutional system. But there has already been eight months since the elections, and governments on all levels have not been formed. This cannot go on any further”, stated Preda.
He added that the lack of the culture of compromise and mutual vision is visible, and that the politicians are putting their narrow personal and party interest ahead of the interest of the country.
“Instead of working constructively towards a result, they are using divisions as a political tool to mobilise support and remain in power”, concluded Preda.