AGREED ALTERNATIVE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS AND SHADOW

Opposition of Republica Srpska and Federation of B&H

CABINET

AIM Sarajevo, 14 January, 1997

In the past two days in Sarajevo, meetings were held of parties and citizens' initiatives which gave their votes for the initiative on political consensus and forming of the Alternative Council of Ministers and Shadow Cabinet of Bosnia & Herzegovina. So far, a protocol on principles for forming the Alternative Council of Ministers has been agreed on and fields it will be engaged in were determined, while the specific personnel solutions and names of the people who will do certain jobs in this body will be known by 31 January this year at the latest.

According to the information available at the moment, the Alternative Council of Ministers will have a president and two deputies and it will consist of seven ministries: ministry of foreign policy, ministry of development, ministry of economic systems and communications, ministry of return, and ministries of social policy, exercising rights of citizens, and ministry of science, education and culture. The number of ministries which will operate as part of the Alternative Council of Ministers is not final and it may be increased in compliance with the problems the Council will deal with.

As Sejfudin Tokic, President of the Executive Board of the Union of Bosnia& Herzegovina Social Democrats (UBSD) said, apart from these determinants, the idea about forming a shadow cabinet in RS was also supported, and later on formation of these same institutions on the level of the Federation. Apart from that, according to Tokic's statement, representatives of the diplomatic corps and international organizations were consulted about participation of a delegation of the democratic alternative at the donors' conference in Brussels, as well as about specific program tasks and programs in the sense of connection of two entities, and intensification of economic and cultural cooperation between them.

Until now, the initiative on political consensus was supported by the following political parties: the Croat Peasants' Party (HSS), the UBSD and the Muslim Bosniac Organization (MBO) from the Federation, and from the RS representatives of the Social Liberal Party, Independent Social Democrats and United Left, and the civic initiatives which offered their support to these ideas were: Circle 99, Forum of Citizens of Tuzla and Democratic Alternative of Sarajevo Serbs.

"Circle 99 was, it is and will be ready to support any initiative which refers to development of integral, decentralized and democratic B&H. Alternative Council of Ministers will be a specific constructive competition to the legal Council", said Dr Juraj Martinovic, representative of Circle 99.

According to the words of Milorad Dodik, President of Social Democrats of RS, joining of this Initiative implies responsibility but also a wish that peace in B&H stabilizes in both its entities. Besides, the Alternative Council of Ministers will be a way to approach the Dayton accords as a whole as well as its implementation as such. Dodik assesses that the process of operation of the Alternative Council of Ministers will be difficult, but he hopes that the efforts of democratically oriented representatives of political parties which form it will be fruitful.

"The essence of the initiative of the democratic alternative in B&H is much broader than forming of the shadow cabinet or the alternative council of ministers. These institutions are formed only in order to work more profoundly on reconstruction of life in B&H. The work on the initiative on political consensus continues and it will be a job for several years. We believe that only full presentation of the initiative on political consensus in the field will enable broader involvement of all democratic forces in both entities into the work", said Miodrag Zivanovic, President of the Social Liberal Party of RS.

In answer to the journalists' questions on speculations that before the meeting of the Democratic Alternative of B&H, Vice-President of the UBSD had met with President of Presidency of B&H, Alija Izetbegovic, and rumours that the alternative council of ministers was mentioned at that meeting, Tokic said:

"By forming the Alternative Council of Ministers, we are the opposition to ruling national parties (SDA, HDZ and the SDS) but also to those parties which are satellites to the political team of the ruling parties. The opposition has intensive activities, but none of us had any negotiations with the authorities, nor did I meet with the President of the Presidency, Alija Izetbegovic", said Tokic and added that as concerning the donors' conference in Brussels, one could expect that the road to development of B&H is opening through specific projects of private initiative.

As an interesting fact it was stressed that all the members of the coalition of the Associated List (although this topic was discussed by it even before the elections in September) refused to sign the Initiative on political consensus, or to cast their vote in favour of the Alternative Council of Ministers. Sejfudin Tokic was therefore asked whether this meant dissolution of the coalition and what would be happening next.

"The Associated List will survive regardless of individual stances and it will operate as an idea and be successful on the territory of the Federation".

The fact that the initiative on political consensus was not supported by all the members of the Associated List was not commented, but it seems that factions have indeed appeared in the coalition made up of five opposition parties - the Associated List of B&H - and that they have different interests. Time will show what is actually happening.

Nermina MUJCINOVIC