Political commitment to BiH constitutional reforms draws mixed reactions
05/12/2005
The joint statement signed by the Bosnia and Herzegovina political parties in Washington last month announced the commitment to achieve constitutional reform in BiH by March 2006.
By Antonio Prlenda for Southeast European Times in Sarajevo – 05/12/05
The political commitment to pursue constitutional reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) -- which was reached late last month in Washington -- has drawn conflicting reactions domestically.The leaders of the eight major political parties in BiH signed the joint statement announcing the commitment to make the constitutional reforms by March 2006, on 22 November -- to mark the 10th anniversary of the Dayton Peace Accords (DPA).
"To achieve Euro-Atlantic integration, we will need to strenghten state institutions consistent with other members of the Euro-Atlantic community and to protect the human rights of all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regardless of ethnicity ... We have decided to embark upon a process of constitutional reform that will enhance the authorities of the state government and streamline parliament and the office of the presidency," the statement read.
The declaration was signed by BiH presidency member Sulejman Tihic from the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), Dragan Cavic of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS), Barisa Colak of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Mladen Ivanic of the Party of Democratic Progress (PDP), Safet Halilovic of the Party for BiH (SBiH), Zlatko Lagumdzija of the Social-Democratic Party (SDP), Milorad Dodik of the Party of Independent Social-Democrats (SNSD) and Mate Bandur of the Croatian People's Union (HNZ).
The event was organised by the US Institute for Peace, and hailed by the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "This is a historic step forward in modernising the Dayton Accords," Rice said after the signing.
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns sent a letter to BiH political leaders in Washington informing them that Washington would be involved in further talks on constitutional reforms. "Bosnia can't remain a fractured state and think that it can become part of the unified Europe or a unified NATO," Burns said.
Though the statement represented a step forward for the country, it drew skepticism from some of the signatories. "It was the original idea that the statement be accompained by the new agreement on concrete new constitutional solutions. But I did not want to legalise some Dayton mistakes that even the creators of the DPA admit to be wrong. I refused to legalise the solution on a presidency that would be elected by the parliement instead of [by the] people," said Tihic.
Bosnian Serb representatives Cavic and Ivanic were more satisfied with the talks. Cavic expressed his belief that this was the right way to achieve agreement by March.
"Tihic expected that Republika Srpska would be terminated in Washington. But he will not be able to do it, even in the further talks on the reform," said Ivanic.
Ivo Miro Jovic, the Croat chairman of BiH's tri-partite presidency, led the BiH delegation in Washington, which included about 40 ministers, lawmakers and other officials. He seemed less than enthusiastic about the joint statement.
"We just agreed that we will achieve an agreement in the future," said Jovic
