CVIJANOVIĆ: SNSD WINS ELECTIONS FOR SURE

ARAJEVO, JUNE 10 /SRNA/ - SARAJEVO, 10. JUNA /SRNA/ - Vice President of SNSD Željka Cvijanović stated that she is sure of victory of SNSD in the upcoming general elections because it is the number one party, while she assessed the behavior of the opposition in Republika Srpska regarding the candidacies as ridiculous.

"I definitely expect the best possible result from the SNSD, which is the number one party, I have no dilemma on that. I expect that together with our coalition block, we will be able to fill all the positions we planned," Cvijanović emphasized.

Cvijanović did not want to reveal the name of the presidential candidate from the SNSD, but she stated that it was being discussed and that the decision of the party authorities will be made in time.

When it comes to the behavior of the opposition in Republika Srpska and the possible candidacy of the SDS leader Branko Blanuša for the president of Srpska, she told Avaz that she does not know if he will be candidate for any position.

"I don't know that at all. Who thinks that anyone who lives, I don't know, anywhere in Republika Srpska understands that," said Cvijanović.

When asked how she views the announcement of the possible candidacy of the president of the List for Justice and Order Nebojša Vukanović as a Serb member of the Presidency, Cvijanović said that it is his right to run for whatever he wants.

She says that she tries to be realistic even though there is no coincidence with Vukanović and his politics, although he seems more consistent than the others in the opposition bloc.

"I have not heard of him withdrawing, saying that he will and that he will not. It is his right to run for whatever he wants, but at least I have not heard him say in the morning that he will and in the afternoon that he will not. I have not heard that," said Cvijanović.

Asked if she was afraid that the SNSD and the ruling coalition would lose the position of president of Republika Srpska in the general elections, given that many say that there was a "small difference in votes" in the early presidential elections, Cvijanović rejected such allegations and pointed out that no party could ever survive what the SNSD did then.

"What is that small difference? You see, a difference of 10,500 or I don't know how many votes for such a low turnout in such circumstances where some people say: `They will win anyway,` while others are unhappy that you are going to the elections at all, that you accepted such a thing. Those were our real circumstances. I have no reason to hide it," said Cvijanović.

When it comes to the difference in votes, Cvijanović cited a case from earlier elections when the then president of the PDP, Mladen Ivanić, had less than one percent more than her, but she did not then claim that it was stolen.

"And as for the difference, I once lost the election when Ivanić beat me with 6,000 votes. Like, it was a super big result, but 11,000 votes is a small result!? He beat me with 0.68 percent. Not even one percent. Well, I didn't say you stole from me. Maybe you did, but I didn't say that, but I can't prove it. They told the story here that they were robbed," she stated.

She pointed out that early elections are in no way comparable to normal ones, since the mandate of the President of the Republic, Milorad Dodik, was stolen.

"Let's not go back, his mandate was stolen from /Christian/ Schmidt and it was implemented through the judiciary. This is what you in the Federation of BiH often brag about as: `We succeeded, and you didn't.` And you see where we are now!? That is number one. Under number two, you lead in circumstances in which you actually don't even know if you should go at all," she noted.

She stated that at the time SNSD first thought that no one should go to the elections, but SDS was the first to come out with a candidate.

"A day or two after that, we held a meeting to say we are going with the candidate. You cannot have any energy in such circumstances of injustice. I don't think any party would ever be able to survive what SNSD survived," she pointed out.

Cvijanović says that the upcoming general elections in BiH are something completely different compared to the early ones for the president of Republika Srpska when there was no real campaigning.

"When SNSD runs a real campaign, it does so in a completely different way. And it will win," said Cvijanović.