Page 6 - bne_newspaper_October_05_2018

Top Stories
October 5, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 6
If that happens, we’re looking at another period of escalating tensions between those two
sides but also a period in which Dodik may be somewhat limited in his capacities to cause havoc,” Mujanovic said.
Dodik’s quest for secession has also been reined in by a change of stance from Moscow, the entity’s main international supporter. Dodik has some- what changed his tone from his vocal calls for Republika Srpska to break away from Sarajevo fol- lowing a recent visit to Bosnia by Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov.
At the end of September, Lavrov said that Russia supports the Dayton peace agreement, and be- lieves there is no alternative, giving a clear signal that Dodik’s secessionist ideas are not welcome at the moment. Before that, Moscow was openly supporting Dodik, who is seen as highly depend- ent on President Vladimir Putin and operating with Moscow’s blessing.
If elected, I will steal
Bosnia’s elections come at a time when the coun- try is struggling to get approval from the Euro- pean Union for its candidate status. Although the country has stated many times that EU accession is among its top priorities, political disagreements have frozen the process several times. At the end
of September, Bosnia failed to meet the deadline for answering additional questions from the EU for the questionnaire that will determine whether the country gets candidate status.
Meanwhile, the country’s latest deal with the International Monetary Fund is again put on hold as it failed to implement pledged reforms.
Some candidates have responded to this rather pessimistic environment with an unusual sense of humour. Evelin Bitic, MP candidate for the Movement Democratic Action (PDA), posted on Facebook that, if elected, he “will steal”, but will also give to the people. He also says that his election programme is honest.
“My programme is the most honest of all. I shall change everything from the ground, but first shall wait for my professional propaganda team makes up new talks (lies) for the people. I have hired professional liars following the example of some of our politicians,” he says in another post.
These statements have gained Bitic popularity among people, especially the young ones who do not feel motivated to vote. According to a recent poll published by Klix.ba, the turnout on October 7 will be below 50%, less than the 53.06% in the previous election in 2014.