FEELING EACH OTHER'S PULSE

Reactions to the Alternative Council of Ministers

The initiative for foundation of the alternative council of ministers and the shadow cabinet showed that among the opposition in both entities there are serious disagreements concerning the first joint post-election appearance on the political scene. But, the very fact that opposition parties from both entities joined the initiative could be a voice of hope for B&H.

AIM Banja Luka, 19 January, 1997

News that three opposition parties from the Federation of B&H (Croat Peasants' Party, Union of B&H Social Democrats /UBSD/ and Muslim Bosniac Organization /MBO/) and three parties from Republica Srpska (Social Liberal Party, Independent Social Democrats and Yugoslav United Left /JUL/) had decided to establish the alternative council of ministers and the shadow cabinet arrived on the first day of the religious and state holiday of the Serb new year's day. State electronic media and dailies in Republica Srpska did not publish it. In similar situations, the authorities would not miss the opportunity to accuse the opposition parties for treason and offer the people yet another proof that they are attempting to push RS into "unitarian Bosnia". This time state propaganda was caught by surprise, obviously faced with a serious dilemma: how to accuse the opposition for talks with "enemies of the Serb nation" when Krajisnik and other leaders of the ruling Serb Democratic Party /SDS/ were doing it almost every day? Absence of quick official reaction does not mean that it will not appear soon.

Connoisseurs of political circumstances in Republica Srpska believe that this time for accusation of these opposition parties, the fact will be used that the opposition is uniting with "enemies" in the Federation in order to overthrow the legal authorities. The alternative challenge to the regime appeared at the time when destiny of Brcko was being decided, the problem which was proclaimed as the question of survival of the state and nation in Republica Srpska. Only in the context of these problems, condemnation of the opposition could have the expected propagandist effect.

The remainder of the political public in Republica Srpska received this piece of news with a certain amount of doubt and scepticism. The assessments range from denial to reserved support and approval. "I absolutely support the idea and the need to form the alternative council of ministers, but I am slightly reserved concerning the manner in which it was done, as well as concerning the time at which it is done", says Djordje Latinovic, member of the Social Liberal Party and deputy in the Assembly of Republica Srpska. Latinovic believes that it is too early to form alternative solutions of the authorities and institutions of B&H because the constitutional legal structure of B&H prescribed by the Dayton accords has not been established yet. "Arbitration concerning Brcko has not been completed yet, the central bank, the constitutional court, the committee for military issues and other agencies and institutions prescribed by the Dayton accords have not been established yet. I am in favour of giving an opportunity to the current authorities to use their mandate to implement the Dayton peace accords", says Latinovic. According to his words, in this phase, the opposition should remain on talks about possible ideas for resolving the arisen problems and collecting practical experience acquired by other countries from constitutional, legal and political practise. "An alternative government should be established when it becomes clear that the existing government does not function. The Council of Ministers has just been formed, we have not even heard its program and cannot assess its results", Latinovic concludes.

Leaders of the Socialist party of RS admit that they were informed about the idea of forming the alternative council of ministers, but refused to participate, believing that at this moment this was not politically productive. "The Council of Ministers has just been formed and there is no need to make a shadow cabinet right away. Problems should be resolved through institutions of the authorities. This could be justified only if operation of the state Council of Ministers fails in its activities", this is how Zivko Radisic, President of the Socialist Party, comments on the idea of the parallel council of ministers. Radisic is a man of large political experience and he is obviously aware of difficulties which are encountered on the way to constituting joint authorities of the state which was disintegrated and demolished for five years. The Socialists fear that this idea could include elements of calculated political manipulations which could inflict political damage to its actors. If nothing else, their caution starts from the assumption that involvement in any forms of political union with parties from the Federation could still be a pre-election risk.

The Socialists do not condemn the move of their coalition partners in the previous elections, but it is quite certain that they do not approve of it either. It could serve as an argument for pre-election dissolution of the coalition called the Alliance for Peace and Progress, which they were not enthused about anyway and which they had joined on demand of Milosevic after intense resistance. The leaders of the Socialists are unanimous in the opinion that the coalition with the Liberals and JUL in the past elections just caused them damage and this could be a good enough reason for them to diassociate themselves from the partners who do not respect the principle of "democratic centralism".

The opinion of the Socialists is shared by Predrag Radic, President of the Democratic Patriotic Block (DPB): "I see no justification for formation of the alternative council of ministers. The ruling parties have just formed the Council and one should wait and see results of their work". Radic reproaches leaders of parties signatories of the initiative on the shadow council of ministers and cabinet for presenting themselves as a political institution even before they were formed and before they had done anything. He says that his coalition block did not participate in the talks about this idea "because it had not been informed about it".

Prof. Dr. Mico Carevic, one of the leading people of JUL for Republica Srpska has a different opinion. Prof. Carevic explains the initiative by the assessment that the ruling parties in B&H are implementing the Dayton accords slowly and inconsistently and he believes that this is a good enough reason for instituting on alternative government which is a practise known in democratic developed countries. "Four months have already passed since the elections and the Assembly, the Government and the Presidency of B&H do not even have their seat. Representatives of the people are constantly trying to outwit one another about which building they will sit in, and the people cannot apply to them", says Carevic. According to his words, the opposition parties should organize themselves so as to reach an agreement concerning personnel composition of alternative authorities and contents of their work, because only in that case their activities would be very useful and creative. "Their basic task is not winning power, but creation of the public opinion on operation of the authorities", concludes Carevic.

The news about the alternative council of ministers for the remaining part of the political public in Republica Srpska is not a political fact which deserves special attention. The people who live on humanitarian parcels and barely survive with the average pay of about 30 German marks seem to have lost all hope that any authorities could help them. This is especially valid for the authorities of the Federation, because this level of the authorities for those who placed their confidence in the SDS in the elections almost does not exist.

The initiative for establishment of the alternative council of ministers and the shadow cabinet showed that among the opposition in both entities there is serious disagreement about the first joint post-election appearance on the political scene. But, the very fact that the initiative was joined by opposition parties from both entities, could be a voice of hope for B&H.

(AIM) Branko Peric

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