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DE RUEHVJ #0157/01 0470811
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 160811Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY SARAJEVO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1411
INFO RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JCS WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SARAJEVO 000157 
 
SIPDIS 
 
EUR/SCE FOR HYLAND, FOOKS 
NSC FOR HOVENIER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/16/2020 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR KDEM BK
SUBJECT: BOSNIA: FEDERATION IGNORES HIGHREP CONCERNS 
 
REF: SARAJEVO 75 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Charles English for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (C) The Federation entity has refused to address HighRep 
Inzko's concerns, which he expressed in a letter to the 
Federation Presidency in December 2009, about the uneven 
distribution of governing positions.  In a separate December 
letter, the HighRep also reminded Federation President 
Borjana Kristo of her duty to appoint a new Minister of 
Spatial Planning.  Both Kristo and the Bosniak Party of 
Democratic Action (SDA) have rejected the HighRep's argument 
on the distribution of positions.  SDA, however, is quietly 
seeking further guidance from the international community. 
End summary. 
 
Federation Governing Positions Unevenly Distributed 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Since the reappointment in June 2009 by the High 
Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) of Amir Jaganjac as 
President of the Federation Supreme Court, the Federation has 
not been in compliance with the provision in its Constitution 
that mandates an equal (2-2-2) distribution across the three 
constituent peoples of six key governing positions.  Bosniaks 
now hold three of these positions, Croats two, and Serbs one. 
 These six positios include: Speaker of the House of 
Representativs (currently Safet Softic, Bosniak, SDA), Prime 
inister (Mustafa Mujezinovic, Bosniak, SDA), President of 
the Supreme Court (Amir Jaganjac, Bosniak) Speaker of the 
House of Peoples (Stjepan Kresic Croat, Croatian Democratic 
Union 1990 or HDZ-1990), President of the Constitutional 
Court (Kata Senjak, Croat), and Federation Prosecutor 
(Zdravko Knezevic, Serb).  (Note: The law requires officials 
to resign from party posts before they assume positions in 
the judiciary.  Therefore, Knezevic, Senjak and Jaganjac have 
no official political affiliation.  End note.)  This is the 
second time -- the first being in 2003, when the HJPC 
initially appointed Jaganjac as President of the Federation 
Supreme Court -- in which the Federation has violated this 
provision of the Constitution through overrepresentation of 
Bosniaks.  (Note: The Republika Srpska, or RS, has the same 
constitutional provision and is in compliance.  End note.) 
 
HighRep Calls for Compliance with the Constitution 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) HighRep Inzko sent a letter to the Federation 
Presidency in December asking it to comply with this 
provision of the Federation Constitution.  The letter implied 
that the Bosniaks should cede to the Serbs the role of 
Speaker of the House of Representatives, since replacing the 
Prime Minister -- the other currently Bosniak position -- 
would be a much more significant undertaking. 
 
Federation Officials Balk 
------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C) Bosniak officials in the Federation governing 
structures thus far are refusing to comply with the HighRep's 
instructions.  SDA, the party to which Mujezinovic and Softic 
belong, contends that the HJPC violated the Federation 
Constitution by reconfirming Jaganjac.  The HJPC, meanwhile, 
maintains that it does not consider ethnicity when appointing 
candidates and is not bound to the Federation Constitution. 
Federation officials are accusing the HighRep of 
unnecessarily interfering in pre-election politics in the 
Federation and insist that, in any case, their Serb 
colleagues are not insisting on the redistribution of 
positions.  President Kristo also rejected the HighRep's 
instructions, telling him in a letter that "offering a 
solution (i.e. to remove the Speaker of the House of 
Representatives) is worrying and opens the door for certain 
speculations and petty politicking."  She added that "the 
interpretation of provisions of the Federation Constitution 
according to momentary needs and political circumstances is 
not a privilege by which to render some constitutional 
provisions obligatory for some, but not for others." 
 
SDA in Private: "We Will Cooperate If We Have To" 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶5.  (C) Privately, Softic (SDA) told us that he would resign 
 
from his position if the Constitutional and Legislative 
Affairs Committee (CLAC) in the Federation House of 
Representatives insisted on it.  Also, Irfan Ajanovic -- SDA 
member and chairman of the CLAC in the Federation House of 
Representatives -- told us that SDA would seek Softic's 
resignation if the international community concretely asked 
for it.  Ajanovic also told us that Tihic met with HighRep 
Inzko in January, and Inzko assured Tihic that his letter was 
not intended as an attack on SDA but rather as an effort to 
resolve a constitutional issue.  According to Ajanovic, Tihic 
told the HighRep that SDA would cooperate if he asked for 
Softic to be replaced but that this would be a costly move 
for SDA during an election year.  Since that meeting, neither 
side has engaged the other on this issue. 
 
HighRep Also Reprimands Kristo for Neglecting Her Duty 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶6.  (C) In a separate letter also from December, Inzko asked 
Federation President Borjana Kristo (HDZ-BiH) to name a 
Minister of Spatial Planning, a position that has been vacant 
since summer 2009 and whose vacancy SDA has used to impede 
the progress of the 5C Corridor (reftel).  In his letter, 
Inzko noted that Kristo has "failed to fulfill her 
constitutional and legal obligation to appoint (a new 
Minister of Spatial Planning)."  In her response, Kristo 
contended that she was well aware of her duties and that the 
Federation Government would deal with all "open issues" in 
line with the constitution, giving no preferential treatment 
to one over another. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶7.  (C) As we insist that the RS comply with HighRep 
decisions and the state Constitution, it is important that 
the Federation also comply with HighRep instructions, as well 
as its own Constitution.  This is particularly true of issues 
in which the RS is in compliance with the same provisions in 
its Constitution, as well as issues that center on ethnic 
parity in the entity leadership.  However, insisting that an 
elected official leave office could well become a highly 
controversial issue, especially in the run-up to the general 
elections scheduled for October. 
 
Comment Cont'd 
-------------- 
 
¶8.  (C) Although not directly a part of the problem with 
ethnic distribution of positions in the Federation 
Government, Kristo's refusal to appoint a new Minister of 
Spatial Planning is yet another example of the dysfunctional 
Federation Government.  Adding insult to injury, BiH was 
slapped with more than two million euros in penalties in 
January for its delay in accessing the 5C construction loans 
from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and 
the European Investment Bank.  Embassy is actively engaged on 
this issue. 
ENGLISH