Dragan Čović announced that in the coming days he will hold several more meetings with representatives of Bosniak and Serb parties and the international community, after which it will be known whether there is any chance that the Election Law will be amended. This will be followed by sessions of the presidencies of HDZ and HNS, at which they will make a decision on the elections.
Čović said he regrets the process was not concluded.
"It was another chance after Neum. I am afraid that we are in a very difficult moment when we have not resolved the changes to the Election Law and all the rulings. These rulings were a precondition for BiH's candidate status. Now we do not have formal conditions for organizing the elections", Čović stated.
He mentioned a number of other unresolved issues, adding that it "suits some parties".
"I and the HNS are not alone in the view based on the law. The fact is that there were a lot of those who said elections will be held regardless of whether we reach an agreement. After that, we drew attention to the fact it did not contribute to the negotiations", Čović said.
Speaking about the statements of Bakir Izetbegović, the leader of the SDA, he said that he understood the message in a clear way "that you have to pay for what you have done".
"As for physical threats, I have been experiencing them for years. There are at least 50 of them, that I will be eliminated, etc. But I do my job, I don't bother with that. Izetbegović's statement, whatever it meant, was said on the day when we were supposed to finish the negotiations.
His statement, regarding the election of a (Croat, author's note) member of the Presidency, that he did not hurt the feelings of the Croatian people and that the leftists are doing that - he received an answer. He was told 'Bakir, it is not true. Bakir, that is what you and the Islamic Community are doing. You elected another (Bosniak, author's note) member of the Presidency - not to quote further", Čović said.
He did not want to specify whether the HDZ / HNS would block or boycott the elections.
Speaking about the House of Peoples, he said that the 16 + 1 model was not discussed, but the formation of an ad hoc club where every Croat elected from Sarajevo, Goražde and Tuzla would comprise that club and elect 17 representatives.
"That is agreed, not 16 + 1. As for the 'electoral college model' election of a member of the Presidency, this is not a proposal of the HDZ. Our proposal is two constituencies. The agreed position is 300 electoral points, a proposal we do not support, but we said we will accept it conditionally if the package is a whole. Everything else is a fabrication. It is true what Konaković said. He could not believe the extent to which we would accept the terms of the SDA. Then I stopped. I told the negotiators that I would accept everything and that they would see that the SDA would reject everything again. And that happened", Čović stated.
He stated that Bakir Izetbegović is blocking everything in FBiH. He stated that the director of the FUP (Federation of BiH's police administration) could not be a Croat for three years and that he did not want to quote Izetbegović explanation because it was not pleasant to the ears.
Čović said that at the session of the House of Peoples, half of the points, out of 28 in total, will be about the fiscal package. Asked if he felt responsible for the situation, he said: "Follow how everyone will behave. I did everything to protect the key elements of the functioning of BiH and to return to the normal political framework. I work on it 24 hours a day and I don't feel responsible", Čović concluded.
Dnevnik.ba