Returning from Tešanj, my colleague Ahmed Burić and I stopped for a coffee break at a restaurant by the road, as there are all over BiH. The owner of the restaurant recognized him and gave him a jar of apple jam with the ‘incidental’, question: ‘Will there be war?’
For a couple of months now, people all over BiH have been living under great psychological pressure and are afraid of a possible new war in this area. Although there are no visible events on the ground, which could indicate a possible war, people are worried. Who was bitten by a snake, is even afraid of lizards, says a folk proverb.
In the public space in BiH, the classic ‘smoke bomb throwing’ is currently happening in order to hide the real state of affairs.
And it is devastating for people and shows the scale of crimes against their own peoples.
How to Survive With BAM 3.5?
We are second in the world and first in Europe in terms of mortality from COVID. In the first six months of 2021, 85,000 people, mostly young ones, left BiH. It is about the same as the whole of Prijedor or Čapljina, Ljubuški and Široki Brijeg combined.
The minimum pension is BAM 382. If we take that the average pensioner’s monthly expenses for medicines are BAM 180 and utilities BAM 100, they are left with approx. 3.5 marks per day. And you can only try to survive!
The Federation of BiH owes one billion and 591 million BAM in taxes through the companies it owns. Private companies are sealed for a few hundred marks of unpaid tax. In the last three weeks (from October 20 to November 11), 135 private companies were closed. We are economically in free fall, and the bottom is not in sight.
Workers of state-owned companies that have already gone bankrupt cannot start receiving a pension, because the state has not paid its contributions and taxes. Former workers of Aluminij Mostar cannot exercise their right to a pension even two and a half years after the factory closed. Nobody asks, from the legitimate protectors of the people, how do these people survive?!
Construction plots in the city centre and building permits were given to the construction mafia, well connected with the mafia in power. Yet, the citizens can barely get a permit for upgrading the floors in their house.
Tenders are still being rigged, the ruling mafia is getting richer and the people are getting poorer. And it will be like that for us until we realize that the real levers for the necessary changes are in our hands.
I think that the majority has understood so far: there will be no war, corruption will bury us instead.
The miners are preparing for a strike. They are looking for an answer for over 6,800 workers in the coal mines within the EPBiH Concern: Is there more work for them or not? No one has the courage to go out in front of people and explain to them that there is no work. According to the Green Plan for the Balkans, the transition to renewable energy sources is planned to close mines and thermal power plants. Why doesn’t anyone dare tell people that? While they still have time, those who can, should go through a training plan for other jobs and stay to work at Elektroprivreda. Namely, there will be work in Elektroprivreda, but not for miners.
Every Monday, a group of people in Sarajevo organize protests. So far, they have protested in front of the buildings of international organizations and embassies. This Monday, they finally came to the right address, in front of the BiH Parliament. This is the institution where those we elected in the elections represent us, get a salary of 5–8,000 BAM even when they do not come to work. And they do not represent us, but their party and the interests of the leaders of those parties.
During the protest, a performance in the form of a prayer was held, which ended with the words ‘We are hungry for peaceful bread’. Here, all our hopes and fears fit into that simple extended sentence. We are hungry, we need peace and bread. They can have their cakes for one mark and roasts for three marks in the restaurant of the Parliament. Give the people bread and peace, and Bosnia is peaceful.
While the mafia rules in our country, the biggest mafia trial since the eighties is underway in Italy. This is where the solution for BiH lies. We need, above all, the rule of law. When our judiciary dares and initiates a couple of cases of great corruption, which they keep in a drawer, only then can we hope for the beginning of positive processes in BiH.
What They Do Even When They Are Not Working?
The rule of law does not come overnight and no one in a place of power left on their own, they withdrew on time. You need to know how to fight for freedom. And that fight doesn’t have to be violent. It is enough for the people to be persistent, to continue to show disobedience to the self-proclaimed leaders of the people, not to be intimidated by non-existent wars and to think well when the time comes for new elections. The election campaign and taking the starting positions have already begun. That is why it is important to open your eyes wide and REMEMBER what they do, even when they are not working in the Parliament.
It is important to remember that in the 2018 elections for the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, from both entities, the parties of the ruling coalition won:
SDA 16% of Bosniak votes
HDZ 28% of Croat votes
SNSD 24% of Serb votes
This means that in relation to the total population, they together received 20% of the votes.
SO, 20% OF CITIZENS DETERMINED THE FATE OF THE OTHER 80%.
Is it time for the smart ones to stop giving in?!
Research has shown that the average BiH citizen is more tolerant, democratic and accepts the diversity of our society more than corrupt elites can or want to, within the current constitutional framework.
Namely, our people can no longer fester fear under their skin and it is a matter of days when they will rise against the current self-proclaimed protectors of the people. Brothers in money are most afraid of that.
