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BOSNIA-POLITICS-GOVERNMENT
Bosnia swears in a three-man presidency dominated by nationalists
SARAJEVO, Nov 20, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Bosnia swore-in its three new
presidents on Tuesday, with all eyes on Serb nationalist Milorad Dodik, who
will be the first to take the helm of a government riven by ethnic divides.
The three men will rotate seats every eight months under the complex peace
deal that ended Bosnia’s 1990s war and split power between its three main
groups: Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks), Serbs and Croats.
In October voters chose nationalists to represent the first two
communities, in a sign of how tribalism continues to shape politics more than
two decades after the war.
The three men took their oaths inside Sarajevo’s Presidency building before
several dozen ambassadors and politicians.
Dodik, a pro-Russian politician who is sanctioned by the US, will co-lead
with Bosnian Muslim president Sefik Dzaferovic, who hails from the
nationalist conservative SDA party, and Croat president Zeljko Komsic.
Komsic, a Social Democrat, is an outlier among the two nationalists and has
called for a “Bosnia of citizens” that would transcend communal divisions.
But he is already facing attacks from the main right-wing Croat party that
accuses him of betraying his people and now threatens to obstruct activity in
parliament.
“It is currently very difficult to find a common denominator between Dodik,
Komsic and Dzaferovic for constructive work,” Bosnian political journalist
Ranko Mavrak said in a radio interview.
“These three will have to decide whether they want to act as a body that
seeks points of agreement or creates problems,” he added.
– Unwieldy government –
While the Dayton Peace Accords that designed Bosnia’s power-sharing
arrangement ended a devastating war, critics say the system has entrenched
communal divisions and hampered effective governance.
The country’s unwieldy government is further complicated by two separate
administrations in its highly-autonomous sub-regions: one for Serbs and one
shared by Croats and Bosnian Muslims.
Those so-called ‘entities’ are strung together by weak central
institutions.
Dodik’s elevation to the top office could mark another blow to the fabric
of a country he has previously skewered as a “failed concept.”
The firebrand led Bosnia’s Serb-run half for over a decade and periodically
threatened to hold a referendum on its secession.
Last year the US placed him on a blacklist for undermining the country’s
peace agreement.
The 59-year-old seemed to soften his tone slightly after he was elected to
the national presidency, saying he wants to work with Bosnian Croats and
Muslims “in the interest of all.”
On Tuesday he repeated his assurance that he did not want to “act to the
detriment of anyone” and wished for “effective cooperation”.
– ‘Looting the country’ –
Political analyst Tanja Topic said the politician appeared to be making a
“conciliatory gesture,” though “it is still difficult to say whether Dodik
will be constructive and whether he will work in the interest of the state.”
A day earlier Dodik had repeated his demands to undo parts of the Dayton
Peace Accords, including shutting down the office of the High Representative
— an international envoy that has been sent by the UN since 1995 to oversee
the peace deal.
“My policy is not changing, it’s just my workplace that’s changing,” he
said on Monday.
Among ordinary Bosnians, there is little hope for major changes in a
paralysed political system that has allowed corruption to flourish and
stalled economic reforms for years.
Unemployment affects up to one third of the country, where large numbers
are migrating abroad for work.
“There’s nothing more to expect here,” said Almir Korjenic, a 32-year-old
applying for a work visa at the Slovenian embassy, summing up a widespread
sense of political fatigue.
“(The politicians) fought each other before the elections to position
themselves well after the elections and resume looting the country,” he said.
BSS/AFP/MRI/2210 hrs