Bosnia Parties Edge Towards Deal on Mostar

Bosnia's two main Bosniak and Croat parties, the Party of Democratic Action, SDA, and the Croat Democratic Union, HDZBiH, are reportedly edging towards ending the deadlock that has paralyzed political life in the ethnically divided southwestern city.

"Talks between the two parties have become very intensive lately," Salem Maric, the President of the SDA Mostar committee, told BIRN on Monday.

"We hope to reach a compromise on a new electoral law for Mostar before the end of April, so that we can organise local elections in the city together with the other municipalities of Bosnia in October 2016," he added.

In June 2012, Bosnia's Constitutional Court ruled that the electoral statute of Mostar was unconstitutional. Since then, attempts to change the law have failed.

As a result, Mostar is the only municipality in Bosnia where local elections were not held in 2012, a state of deadlock that is creating major problems for the city's inhabitants.

Last week, Bakir Izetbegovic, the Bosniak member of the country's three-member Presidency, and president of the SDA,  confirmed that he would be willing to move the government and all the ministries of Bosnia's Federation entity to Mostar.

The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of two entities in the country.

Even if this issue is separated from reform of the city's electoral law, the offer was seen as a major concession to the HDZBiH, which has long argued that Mostar should become the centre of the Federation.

Salem Maric confirmed the offer - but stressed that this would not mean Mostar becoming the formal capital of the Federation entity.

"The constitution of the Federation clearly states that the capital of the entity is Sarajevo", Maric noted. 

However,...