A shorter version was adopted and the plan is to pass the Declaration next week. Caucuses are to state their positions by Monday
- It would be better not to adopt this Declaration without passion, emotion or content, than to adopt it the way it is! We are supposed to keep quiet now or be accused of meddling in internal affairs - these are platitudes - stressed Deputy Speaker of Sabor Milijan Brkić at the session of the Committee for Croats outside Croatia. After another "round" of negotiations, the final draft of the Sabor Declaration on Position of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina is still not in sight.
Committee chair Božo Ljubić was presenting the new, updated version of the Declaration, from which controversial points were removed in agreement with the Government - they did not want to show it to the press. In fact, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs official ripped it from our hands.
Unanimous
"The goal of the Declaration is to reach a consensus. We have 'ironed it out' so that our advocacy of wellbeing of Croats in BH does not get used against us," said Ljubić.
State secretary at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs Zdravka Bušić stressed the importance of unanimous adoption of the Declaration and called for "not competing against each other, but understanding what is happening in BH, noting that many people do not know what Croats want."
Brkić harshly criticized the final version of the Declaration and called for returning the points that were removed. He pointed out that "we in the Sabor should not be afraid of truth" and listed the points he believes are missing in the final version: "stress on the ruling of the Constitutional Court of BH and election of Croatian member of BH Presidency without legitimacy of Croatian people."
The Constitutional Court partly adopted Božo Ljubić's request, then chair of the House of Representatives of BH, for assessing constitutionality of some election regulations in BH which "directly violated the principle of legitimate representation of constitutive peoples in the House of Representatives and Parliamentary Assembly as well as resulted in formation of the executive branch of the Government which does not have any legitimate political representatives of Croats."
HVO's role
"Croatia should not run away, it should provide support for protecting rights of all three constitutive peoples to language, script, education programs and founding public broadcasters in national language," noted Brkić. He objects that the Declaration does not clearly state the role of the Croatian Defense Council (HVO), which was part of Croatia's Armed Forces and without which we would not have independent Croatia or BH.
"For Croats in BH, elections were not a festival of democracy, but a festival of discrimination," said Brkić and noted that regulations are not writ in stone, adding that the Sabor should change regulations, including election regulations. Brkić insists that right of Croats in BH to electronic and postal voting should be defined in the Declaration, which was in practice earlier.
MOST head Božo Petrov claims that the new version of the Declaration is "flawed, a partly extended hand and useless." He supported Brkić's requests, especially with regard to the HVO, stressing that "if we will not do it, we cannot expect courts to do it." He expanded the list of requests, calling for supporting the strengthening of status of veterans and Croatian institutions to report on all processes that harm Croats in BH two times annually as well as calling on BH authorities to stop discriminating against students and Croatian citizens.
Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) MP Miro Kovač agreed that the Declaration could have been "worded more strongly" and should not be "below European Parliament resolution."
Disservice
External member of the Committee Veselko Jovanović supported the old text, but later decided to support the new one. Committee member Tomislav Žagar called on the Government to take responsibility with the aim of not making a disservice to Croats in BH.
Ljubić, who said that he "has been living the Declaration for 25 years," explained that he held a series of meetings on the Declaration and concluded that a better solution should be found, but strongly opposed the possibility of delaying adoption. Due to time constraints, the plan is to pass the Declaration next week, the latest, shortened version. Caucuses will have to state their positions by Monday and shortcomings will be addressed through amendments. According to available information, the plenary session will see what they do not want - contestation.