These parties and organizations are led by Kresimir Zubak, Miljenko Brkic, Ilija Simic, Ivo Komsic, Mladen Ivankovic, Jadranko Prlic, and Marko Tadic, therefore people who have one thing in common - at this moment they all support policies of the Democratic Alliance for Changes. It is interesting that the list Progress Through Work is also mentioned even though, according to Mladen Ivankovic, its founder, that list was dissolved after the elections.
Tadic Talked With Cardinal: The public has heard very little about this event, and it was announced that this body was supposed to coordinate the work of the aforementioned political parties and non-governmental organizations. Among other tasks, the Coordination will supposedly work on resolving the current political crisis and seek appropriate solutions for necessary constitutional changes.
Obviously the Coordination is supposed to be some sort of response to the project of the Croatian People's Assembly and the Croatian Autonomy led by the HDZ. The impression is that this is nothing but a realization of Miljenko Brkic's idea about an "anti-Assembly". It is interesting that the information leaked to the public after the founding of the Coordination includes the claim that the newly elected president of that body (the president will change every month), Marko Tadic had met with Vrhbosna Archbishop Cardinal Vinko Puljic. Judging by the reluctance of the former dean of the Mostar University to give any statements for the media after this meeting, one could conclude that he was not exactly pleased with his talks with the cardinal, who, just like the other representatives of the Catholic Church, has recently openly supported the legitimate struggle of the Croat people for the preservation of its equal position in the country.
Petritsch Against Bishops, Franciscans, and People: Of course, the formation of the Coordination, and even Tadic's meeting with the Cardinal, cannot be viewed outside the current political context and are obviously an attempt to redirect the political events in the country, which have recently taken a different turn, in the desired direction.
Namely, the analysts who deal with the likelihood of implementation of certain moves by the international community in BH have been recently concerned regarding the possible conclusion of an increasingly open conflict between Wolfgang Petritsch and those political representatives of the Croat people in BH who enjoy the support of a majority of voters. Although at first those analysts handed Petritsch reports in which they predicted his success, recently that optimism has significantly been reduced.
The chief reason for that new mood is in the fact that Petritsch's actions have united almost all the institutions, parties and associations of the Croat people in BH. Thus, against Petritsch we have not only the legitimate representatives of the Croat people, organized in the Croatian People's Assembly, but also the leadership of the Catholic Church in BH. The Catholic bishops and Franciscan leaders have during the last decade very infrequently been in agreement, especially in Hercegovina. There were differences between the Sarajevo Archbishop and the Mostar Bishop and especially between Croat intellectuals in BH. Today, all of them are on the same side and all of them are equally adamantly opposed to Petritsch's policy, which according to them has actually abolished the equal status of Croats in the Federation BH, and has annulled the political will of Croats in that entity. That conviction is rather firm and goes as far as to demand revision of Petritsch's actions. The formation of the Coordination is obviously an attempt to create an illusion that there are significant elements within the Croat people that support the policy of the High Representative in BH.
Leaving aside political subjects, it should be recalled that Petritsch's "robust policy", as he personally referred to it, has been rejected even by the part of the Catholic Church in BH on whose support Petritsch counted.
If one also has in mind that Cardinal Puljic and Bishop Peric are supported in their views by the Franciscan leaders Fr. Mijo Dzodan (Bosna Srebrena Province) and Fr. Pervan (Hercegovina Province) then it is more than clear that Petritsch's current policies are strongly opposed by the Catholic Church in BH. That united stand of the regular Catholic clergy and Franciscans, equally in Bosnia and Hercegovina is only disturbed by several priests such as Fr. Luka Markesic and Fr. Mirko Orsolic. Only they support Petritsch, but it is also well-known that during the Communist regime the two of them cooperated in various ways with the Communist regime, by which they discredited themselves in the eyes of most believers and other priests.
That cooperation was so strong that, for example, Fr. Luka Markesic in the late eighties published booklets about "Church and Socialist Self-management" glorifying the evil regime that did not have popular support and was irretrievably destroyed a few years later. On the other hand Orsolic had good connections in the then Communist authorities, promoted the association of priests "Good shepherd" which was under state control, and he also acted publicly, by openly supporting the existing monstrous system. Therefore, the two of them and some other individuals from the Catholic Church are ignored by most honorable persons.
Replying on Discredited and Blackmailed? Actually, their activity as if confirms the rule that Petritsch in his most recent actions is relying on discredited or blackmailed Croats. That is how Petritsch won over to his side Jadranko Prlic, after, as is alleged, blackmailing him for a long time with a possible Hague indictment due to the fact that during the Croat-Bosniak conflict Prlic was the HVO commander. Petritsch apparently did the same with Ivo Lozancic from Zepce. The association of Camp Inmates, led by Irfan Ajanovic claims that a secret indictment has already been issued for him (some even claim to have seen it) and consequently it makes sense that Lozancic does not have much space for maneuver. He has to obey, and therefore agree to participate in the current authorities as otherwise he would be prosecuted.
For some other individuals who support Petritsch's policies it is known that they agree with every political solution as long as some office is reserved for them. For example, Ivo Komsic. His problem is that he can be abused in favor of somebody else's interests. That characteristic frequently puts him in situations in which his political sponsors, once he fulfills the given role (this was also done by Alija Izetbegovic), mostly reject him, and he is not on his own capable of forming a political party that would be able to pass the census for the representation in the Parliament. Even the residents of his birthplace, Kiseljak, are reserved with respect to him, so that he became a representative in the Parliament thanks to Bosniak votes in Sarajevo. As far as other Croat officials in the Alliance, they as individuals have very little influence. They are clerks who ended up in important positions based on ethnic quotas, and will stay there until those who won the trust of Croat voters in the elections regain their primacy.
There is no doubt that the participation of the mentioned individuals and parties in the current authorities will additionally discredit and isolate those individuals and parties form the Croatian electorate in BH. The Catholic Church in BH is a very strong institution, with a lot of influence among the Croat Catholics, and if it rejects a certain mode of state organization there is no chance that it will be accepted by the people. Besides, the Catholic Church had a chance to practice its "opposition" role during the Communist rule so that a return to that role in the current period would not be anything new.
Besides, the Catholic Church has through the Vatican certain influence on the creation of political events. Exactly that fact is the biggest obstacle to Petritsch and other representatives of the international community to successfully implement their project, which, let us add, transforms the Croats in Federation BH into an ethnic minority. Naturally, the Church does not support the founding of the temporary Croatian Autonomy, but as at the Croat People's Assembly it was said that the autonomy is not a goal but the means to correct injustice inflicted on Croats in BH, it is far from certain that Wolfgang Petritsch will ultimately win.
Colonial Rulers: True to tell, he has a lot of power. He can replace when and whom he wants, he can appoint individuals loyal to him, he can claim to the international community that his goal is to remove the so-called nationalists from power, but he can never say that he established new authorities respecting the will of the Croat electorate. Exactly that fact, as well as the possible destabilization of BH that will take place in the coming weeks, are arguments against his model of rule. In history there are many cases of colonial rulers who with their method of rule, hiding behind the so-called emancipating moves, actually caused long-term destabilization of the regions ruled by them.
It seems that Petritsh is on a good path to, by violating the Constitutions and ignoring the electoral will of one of the constituent nations in BH, and a series of repressive political measures, become one of such colonial rulers. His "robust policy", as he refers to it, in the end becomes an end to itself, as it does not bring stability to BH as a state nor does it benefit certain nations. Except for perhaps Petritsch personally, as it is not every day that a European "clerk" gets a chance to be a king for a while. Exactly that fact worries the most analysts who follow political processes in Bosnia-Hercegovina.