The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, has been "letting water down the drain" for years. Milorad Dodik, and uses the political crisis in Republika Srpska to accuse citizens protesting in Serbia that threaten the position of Republika Srpska (RS), says political analyst Đorđe Vukadinović for "Vreme".
On August 18, Dodik's mandate officially ended, after the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) rejected the appeal of Dodik's lawyer against the decision of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of BiH, which revoked his mandate for this position. The ruling coalition in the RS has decided that the referendum on the verdict of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the decision of the CEC, which stripped Dodik of his mandate as president, will be held on October 18 or 25.
Vukadinović believes that there is not much basis for "intriguing pub-political speculation" about considering the option of the former president of the RS being a candidate for the president of Serbia in the next elections.
Such a possibility was recently mentioned by the vice-president of the Party of Freedom and Justice, Borko Stefanović, claiming that it is being seriously negotiated.
Vučić's "gesture of goodwill"
However, Vukadinović points out that the most irrational moves can be expected from Vučić, "who behaves as if water has entered his ears".
He states that Vučić has been "gradually letting Dodik down the drain" for years, through the process of his weakening in the Republika Srpska, but also through various types of instrumentalization of Dodik in internal political struggles in Serbia.
"Such an attitude towards Dodik, his pacification, along with incidental use for political struggles in Serbia, is one of Vučić's 'goodwill gestures' towards the West and one of the elements with which he has so far bought the support of Western political circles," says Vukadinović.
For him, Milorad Dodik as president of Serbia is "an unlikely scenario for all possible reasons".
Vukadinović emphasizes that such a scenario is not realistic and does not suit either Vučić or Dodik, and especially does not suit the West, because "especially Brussels" would be very vocal against such a solution.
"Such a scenario does not suit Vučić. Even if we could imagine a pacified and politically damaged Dodik as president of Serbia, which is a very questionable election outcome, that would make him an important political factor, and Vučić has been fighting for more than 10 years to marginalize him and make him an irrelevant factor in the RS, but also in Serbia, where Dodik was very popular at the time when Vučić came to power," says Vukadinović.
Accusations of "endangering the position of the RS"
He assesses that even for Dodik, the post of president of Serbia, although it seems like a "consolation prize", would not be as attractive as it seems at first glance.
Vukadinović also points out that Vučić has been using the unstable political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, that is, the RS, since the beginning of the emerging crisis in Serbia.
He states that one of the accents of the campaign against civil protests is that these protests call into question the fight for Kosovo and Metohija, and that they threaten the position of the Serbs in Montenegro and the position of the RS.
"Vučić is trying to use Dodik's troubles in the RS in a campaign against his political opponents in Serbia, accusing the opposition and the protests of something that he himself greatly supported," concludes Vukadinović.
Reactions in BiH
The media in Bosnia and Herzegovina did not give too much space to the announcement of Dodik's possible candidacy in the elections in Serbia.
The news was mostly reported integrally by the media from Serbia, their comments on the fact that Dodik could be Vučić's candidate for the presidency were given by Nebojša Vukanović, a member of the List for Justice and Order, and Ramiz Salkić, a former vice-president of the RS and member of parliament of the RS.
Vukanović assessed that Dodik's candidacy for the president of Serbia would be "the peak of madness in this region".
"I don't think it's realistic, first of all, no one in Serbia could vote for someone who lives in Laktaši, who has a reputation as a corrupt man steeped in crime, unscrupulous, wasted. He can't possibly get the support of the people of Serbia," Vukanović believes.
At the same time, Salkić believes that Dodik "at no cost" should be in the position of president of Serbia.
"It is necessary to change the government in Belgrade as soon as possible, so that such things are not even considered. Dodik should be in prison, and not be the president of a neighboring and often hostile country," Salkić believes.
