"The Croatian Student Political Science Forum (HSPF) deplores the failure to reach the necessary agreement on the Election Law and the limited Constitutional reform. We believe that no agreement was reached since some (pro) Bosniak parties have been blocking the rule of law for years, as well as boycotting the Dayton Peace Agreement and the BiH Constitution.
However, this was expected given that we are used to certain domestic political parties persistently demolishing the foundations of the Dayton Peace Agreement, so we want to take a look at the actions of the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
First of all, we remind the BiH public of the communiqué of the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council of December 8, 2017, which stated that it is necessary to:
"Take the necessary steps to enable the smooth conduct and implementation of the results of the 2018 General Elections. As an immediate priority, the 1 December 2016 (“Ljubic case”) decision of the BiH Constitutional Court, which specifically concerns the elections to the Federation House of Peoples, must be implemented, and not made more challenging by combining it with political demands."
We ask the international community - why did you retreat from the stated position and allow the blockade of the rule of law in BiH to continue, solely due to anti-Dayton political demands that are not the subject of any ruling of any court? Why do you mention the rule of law and the Dayton Peace Agreement so often, if in practice you are unable or unwilling to protect their foundations?
For more than a decade, the HSPF has advocated for democratic methods of managing differences in divided societies, which are certainly consociational democracy and federalism, but we have also advocated for the individual rights of each citizen in full capacity.
We regret that the relevant international actors have obviously abandoned these principles, as well as the rule of law. We are particularly disappointed that the set of rulings of the European Court of Human Rights will not finally be resolved, all for complying with the destabilizing political demands of one political party.
We want to send a very clear and open message to all those who support the unconstitutional election cycle in October, and especially to those who are "looking forward" to it - another anti-Dayton, anti-constitutional and anti-democratic elections are the fastest way to disintegrate Bosnia and Herzegovina.
We declare to the international officials - even though you are doing everything in the name of stability, which is in fact only an illusion of stability and functionality, you actually conduct Pilate's hand-washing and contribute to BiH destabilization by disrespecting the rule of law and breaking the peace agreement.
BiH is on the verge of collapse precisely because of its persistent ignoring of problems and cowardly non-confrontation with them. Haven’t you learned a lesson in the last 20 years about how closing your eyes to problems is unsustainable and is the best recipe for failure?
Peace agreements are a serious matter, why are you not serious about the Dayton Peace Agreement? Why do you persistently circumvent its basic principles and thus violate the preconditions that ensured peace in BiH? Why are you silent on one political party brutally violating the preconditions of peace?
As young people and students, we tell you - stop playing with our destinies. Stop taking away our future. Ultimately - stop being hypocritical. We are sure that in none of your countries would elections be held according to the unconstitutional Election Law, nor would obstruction of the implementation of court rulings be allowed. Why do you support that in our country?
Above all, we are disappointed with your attitude towards the rule of law - a fundamental principle on which both the US and the EU are based. You have disappointed one whole generation of young people and students who naively believed that you truly hold on to signed agreements and relevant court decisions.
We express our deep disappointment that you support an unconstitutional election cycle that will only serve majority hegemony for another round of political violence and humiliation. By doing so, you are cementing the fact that Croats in BiH are the only people in the whole of Europe who have been prevented from freely and democratically choosing their own political representatives.
In the end - all these are extremely bad messages for the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and we want to make it clear to you that the huge responsibility in the further destabilization of BiH lies with the international community."
Dnevnik.ba