What to think about the integrity of the presidential candidate who presents himself as "another form Milorad Dodik", except to confirm the old mantra uttered by academician Rajko Kuzmanović that "we are all Miles".
Siniša Karan did not even try to separate his own identity from Dodik's. He incorporated his spirit, body and thought into a single entity president. So, in these elections, we will see whether Milorad Dodik, despite the court ban, will engage in politics, whether he will remain president of the Republika Srpska for life, the truth in some other physical form, or whether there will be a change, in which few believe.
Hate speech and scandals
Although the campaign was almost silent, in an atmosphere where there were no inflammatory statements by the candidates, there were hate speech and several scandals.
Milorad Dodik and the mayor of Banja Luka, Draško Stanivuković, stole the political show from the candidates and pushed them to the margins of the political reckoning. The Central Election Commission fined the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats for Dodik's hate speech with a fine of 30 convertible marks and a public warning with a red card. And that as long as the decision of the Basic Court in Banja Luka was awaited to delete Dodik from the register of party presidents. As expected, that decision was not made in order not to disrupt Dodik's central role in the election campaign. So much for the impartial judiciary and the attitude towards the citizen Dodik.
In the midst of the election campaign, he surfaced completely illogically compromising footage of the director of the University and Clinical Center, Vlado Đajić in some "dangerous" business of selling cocaine. Despite his excuses that he was "set up", Milorad Dodik promptly removed him from all positions, underlining that SNSD has zero tolerance towards narcotics. In this affair, Draško Stanivuković also placed himself in the center of the scandal, claiming that someone tried to set him up with this video.
Some welcomed Dodik's move with the comment that "this is how it is done in crisis communication", while others wondered if this affair could affect the rating of the party candidate on the eve of the presidential elections.
Basketball in Panama
Especially if it is known that the day before, a video of SNSD Minister of Foreign Trade in the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Staša Košarac, enjoying himself in Panama in the company of drug dealers was published. There, Dodik showed no signs of "sensitivity", which is why he removed his political head from Đajić. True, Košarac survived one political death, as an actor of the Corona Party. Dodik then kicked him out of political life, to which he quietly returned him without question.
This does not mean that Košarac's political head will not fall, especially after the harsh reaction of the United States Embassy, after he sent the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina Christian Schmidt a Nazi helmet with an accompanying primitive letter, which made many cheeks redden. It is hard to believe that Košarac sends gifts and writes letters on his own, and even less that most people in SNSD do not share the same opinion. But the reprimand of the Americans that such moves do not lead to de-escalation, especially in light of the acceptance of all Dodik's decisions, which the American administration welcomed as a contribution to calming the heated political passions in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
And Đajić triumphantly, after his dismissal, took a picture with "Dodik's second form" and the Minister of Justice, which sent a message to the citizens that political responsibility is illusory, and that it is socially and party-acceptable behavior when someone is caught with their hands in "cocaine" by secret filming. This was preceded by frenetic applause from citizens and party members for the deposed Government Đajić.
Opponents
Opposition candidate Branko Blanuša comes from a party that hasn't had a party leader for months, so the young Stanivuković took over the baton, paving the way for his candidacy in next year's elections. To many, these Sundays are meaningless anyway.
Apart from the two of them, Dragan Đokanović from the Alliance for a New Policy, Nikola Lazarević from the Ecological Party of Srpska and two independent candidates Igor Gašević and Slavko Dragičević are also running for president of the Republic of Srpska.
The advantage is in the hands of those who have power and control every election pore - from the party's voting machinery, through employees in public institutions and part of the opposition, to the majority of the media, bags with ballots, and members of election committees. Any other outcome, especially a change in a deeply cemented system, would be tantamount to a miracle.
