Bosnia's new government for Bosniak and Croat entity sworn in

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - The new government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), one of the two entities in the country, was sworn in on Wednesday in the capital Sarajevo.

The new FBiH government, which caused controversy following general elections on Oct. 2, 2022, officially took over the task after the swearing-in ceremony.

New and former FBiH officials attended the ceremony, which was led by Social Democratic Party (SDP) Chairman and new Prime Minister Nermin Niksic.

"The reform processes will mark the coming period. I am sure that we will work as a team and take good steps." said Niksic at the ceremony.

Bosnia and Herzegovina formed a government last Friday for the Bosniak and Croat federation entity.

The House of Representatives of the FBiH entity’s parliament appointed the new government after the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christian Schmidt, used his substantial powers to ensure the government’s formation by imposing new changes to its constitution Thursday.

It was Schmidt’s second intervention in the constitution in less than seven months.

The former FBiH government led by Prime Minister Fadil Novalic of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) was in a technical mandate for four years after its mandate ended.

Schmidt announced Thursday that he used his authority to form the FBiH's government.

According to a decision published by the Office of the High Representative (OHR), the signatures of the vice presidents of the FBiH, which prevented the establishment of the entity's government, are not required.

- General elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina

General elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina were held on Oct. 2.

The Presidential Council tasked Borjana Kristo from the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) with forming the government at the state level at a session on Dec. 22.

Milorad Dodik was elected president of the Republika Srpska (RS) entity, the second of Bosnia’s two entities, and the RS government was established on Dec. 21.

Lidija Bradara was appointed president of the FBiH on Feb. 28.

Bradara announced on March 30 that she had given Niksic a mandate to form a federation government.

The coalition formed by the HDZ and the “Eight” alliance in the FBiH needed the approval of Refik Lendo, vice president of the entity from the SDA, to form the entity's government.

But Lendo did not want to approve a governing coalition that does not include the SDA, which won the most votes in the elections.

The FBiH Constitution stipulated that the government proposed by its president must be approved by the two vice presidents before it can be formed.

To overcome the government crisis, the SDA could relent and Lendo give approval to the current government, or there could be a coalition with the SDA, in which case the HDZ would have to back down, or Schmidt would have to amend the constitution using his authority.

Bosnians are furious about what they call Schmidt’s interference.

Last week, hundreds of demonstrators protested against Schmidt and demanded that officials respect the county’s independence, territorial integrity, democracy and human rights.

The angry crowd chanted for Schmidt to resign and go back to his native Germany.

- High representative's controversial laws

Schmidt announced on the night of the Oct. 2 general elections that he had enacted controversial reforms to the election laws

After polls closed in the presidential and parliamentary elections, Schmidt said he had signed two decisions for the functionality and timely implementation of election results in a document he called the "functionality package," saying they were related to the government and coalition-building processes.

The decision was fiercely criticized by both politicians and the public.

The Office of the High Representative was established in the Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia Herzegovina. It oversees the implementation of the peace agreement on behalf of the international community

That person has the authority to dismiss anyone who interferes with the implementation of peace in the country, including members of the Presidential Council, and to pass laws as necessary. The powers are dubbed “Bonn powers.”