Covic: Council of Ministers can be formed by the end of 2018

N1

Head of the nationalist Croat Democratic Union (HDZ BiH) Dragan Covic said, Monday, that Bosnia could form the Council of Ministers by the end of 2018 but that no dates were set when it comes to the government formation in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) entity.

“We said we’d implement the general election results where ever we can, but not the State House of Peoples. All cantonal inaugural sessions, however, will be set in the next week,” Covic said in a press conference following the HDZ BiH party session.

For him, the inaugural session of the FBiH House of Peoples will be set only after the State Election Law is amended.

Namely, Bosnia's Constitutional Court ruled, some two years ago, that certain articles of the Election Law are in violation of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and that they must be amended in order to preserve Constitutional rights of all constituent peoples.

Bosnia and Herzegovina, which consists of two semi-autonomous entities – the Bosniak-Croat dominated FBiH and the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska (RS) entity, held a general election in early October.

Speaking about his party’s negotiations with partners from the RS entity, Covic noted that their talks with the nationalist Association of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), led by the newly elected Serb Presidency member Milorad Dodik, are over and that they agreed all the details and obligations.

When it comes to the FBiH and the State level, the party did not set any dates because they wanted to have three partners, according to Covic.

“We have a partner from the Serb people, but we’re still looking for the best solution when it comes to the Bosniak people. These are not coalitions but partnerships which are yet to be implemented,” he noted.

In an interview with N1, the outgoing Bosniak Presidency member Bakir Izetbegovic and the leader of the biggest Bosniak party, the Democratic Action Party (SDA) said he would meet with Dragan Covic as early as Tuesday, but Covic denied this claim.

“Not with me. With Dodik maybe, but I don’t know. Izetbegovic and I will definitely meet in the next couple of days, but not tomorrow.”

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