The presidents of the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HDZ BiH) and the Bosniak Party of Democratic Action (SDA), Dragan Covic and Sulejman Tihic, said after talks in Mostar on Monday that the two parties would most probably be together in bodies of government at all levels following the October 3 general election in the country.
"We strongly believe in the cooperation of the two parties and that once the election results are implemented, the two parties will be together in bodies of government from the state level to the entity and cantonal levels in the Federation," Covic told a news conference.
SDA president Sulejman Tihic said the final agreement required normalisation of relations between the HDZ BiH and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and agreement between Croat parties on possible joint participation in bodies of government.
Tihic said that the SDP was a partner to the SDA and that he expected the HDZ BiH and the SDP to soon agree on possible cooperation in a coalition to be made up of the SDA, the HDZ BiH, the SDP, and the Union of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD).
Covic said he soon expected an agreement between leading Croat parties on joint participation in the new bodies of government.
He said the establishment of the new bodies of government required precise agreement on the implementation of election results, and on changes to the constitution, which he said should be adopted in 2011.
He added that the HDZ BiH advocated organising the country into four federal units to replace the country's two entities, or any other solution that would guarantee the equality of the Croat, Serb and Bosniak peoples.
