BiH must win loyalty of its citizens
As you know, the HR will deliver a speech on Friday morning at a Conference
entitled ten years of Dayton and Beyond in Geneva, the first conference
organized to mark the 10th anniversary of Dayton.
The HR will speak about the achievements of BiH in the last decade and what
needs to be done in future: BiH is about to enter negotiations on SAA and is
deepen its relations with NATO thus moving into a new era, marking a decisive
shift away from the post-war Dayton reality.
The HR will emphasize that there is still a long way to go, but the worst is
behind BiH. He will say that the basic institutions necessary for the smooth
functioning of the state have been established – now they have to be made
properly functional. This means reducing the cost of government, optimizing
expenditure by eliminating the duplication of services across different tiers of
the sprawling administrative system, and bringing civil service salaries into
line with the country’s capacity to pay.
He will say that once the SAA process is secured, the need for constitutional
change will become more apparent. He will say that Bosnia and Herzegovina has
perhaps come as far as it can under its present constitutional apparatus; and it
now must make changes that will allow it to continue on the path towards full
sovereignty and stability, and above all which will channel funds away from
government and directly to citizens. He will say that no state can win the
loyalty of its citizens when it spends 70 percent of their taxes on government
and only 30 percent on services to the people themselves.
HR will emphasize that where necessary, through dialogue and consensus,
constitutional changes need to be made.
But the High Representative will repeat that change can only come through
consensus among the peoples. It cannot be imposed and done by outsiders. The
object of of the current phase that will see BiH transitioning towards the EU
must be to create a state that puts its citizens first, not its politicians, he
will say.
