SDP PRESIDENT EXPLAINS REASONS FOR NOT ATTENDING MEETING ON POLICE REFORM

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (October 16,2007) - The Social Democratic Party (SDP) President Zlatko Lagumdzija issued a statement explaining reasons why he refused to attend the meeting at which the latest protocol on Bosnian police reform was considered and which has been signed by Ljubic and Covic.

“I did not attend the meeting on Thursday for reasons that are well known to the public and because of perfectly clear positions of SDP. However, I with to remind that SDP participated constructively in this entire process from the beginning at the political and expert level. We have tried to contribute to the completion of this three-year long process by putting in place a meaningful reform, which would allow Bosnia to finally open the blocked road to the European Union.

Unfortunately, the Protocol offered by Ljubic and Covic represents something that falls well short of everything that has been proposed so far, and it even falls short of what has been offered in the Protocol agreed by Silajdzic and Dodik.

What is especially worrying in this document on only two pages is that for the first time it places future police structures under the direct political influence of the ruling coalition, which is in direct violation of the second EU principle. The lack of seriousness in the overall approach by the coalition leaders to this problem is evident from the fact that that only yesterday I received practically two different versions of the protocol from the same people. One of them proposes a police structure in accordance with the 1991 census, while the other propose a police structure in accordance with the last census, which practically and institutionally legalises ethnic cleansing in Bosnia.

After Dodik offered a four-page text, which largely diminishes the entire police reform process, I find it completely baseless to take any further part in these talks. We in SDP will never agree to the succession of the police as advocated by the leaders of the ruling coalition today. The offered protocol is a scam, both for the citizens of this country and the international community. It is becoming increasingly apparent that the essence of this Protocol in fact represents a struggle for seats and other benefits.

When will Bosnia finally get authorities that will be responsible towards the citizens and the real problems that the Bosnian citizens face on a daily basis represents the biggest problem of this country. Let the dear God be of help to us as long as we have such authorities”, Lagumdzija said.