Democratic councilor in the Bijelo Polje Municipal Assembly, Marko Đukić, said that the president of the Bosniak Party's local government, Ernad Suljević, is "washing his hands" of the municipal president, Petar Smolović, whom he elected, defended and protected.
He stated this in a statement, recalling that Suljević's statements, in which he questions the work of the president of the Municipality of Bijelo Polje, represent an attempt to escape from his own decisions and a gross falsification of the political truth about how this government was formed.
"The man who brought Smolović to the head of the Municipality, who politically protected and defended him for three years, is today trying to renounce his own decisions and shift responsibility to others. The citizens of Bijelo Polje know the real truth and clear facts well. After the 2022 elections, the Bosniak Party, led by Ernad Suljević, in negotiations with the then opposition, requested the position of the President of the Municipality and one-third of the government. This request was accepted. Suljević had the opportunity to take full responsibility and lead Bijelo Polje as he promised on election night, when he spoke of a 'victorious, developmental and visionary program'. Instead, he consciously chose a lesser position - the position of President of the Assembly, and thus enabled Petar Smolović (second on the DPS electoral list) to become the President of the Municipality of Bijelo Polje," said Đukić.
He pointed out that after that period, Suljević and BS were the key pillar of Smolović's survival in power.
"In the Municipal Assembly, Smolović had stronger protection from the President of the Assembly than from his own DPS. The President of the Assembly defended the President of the Municipality more often and more decisively than he protected the dignity, rules of procedure and statute of the Assembly, as well as opposition councilors. In such an environment, with the tacit and political protection of the authorities, brutal political incidents were tolerated. The President of the Municipality entered into verbal conflicts with opposition councilors, including an attempt at a physical confrontation, which led to court proceedings. Neither then nor later, Ernad Suljević saw a problem. On the contrary, the government was 'stable', and all those who pointed to chaos in the functioning of the Municipality were declared 'illiterate and malicious foreign mercenaries'. Also, in June 2024, Suljević publicly announced on behalf of the Bosniak Party that there was no crisis of power in Bijelo Polje and that all allegations about problems were mere speculations by the opposition. Today, the same Suljević says that he has no confidence in Smolović because he allegedly does not work "in the interest of the city. This is not a change of attitude, but an attempt to politically whitewash one's biography of bad political deals," Đukić stated.
Today, he adds, Bijelo Polje does not have a single capital project nominated for 2026.
"During this mandate, not a single serious development project has been completed. The city is stagnant, investments are lacking, and the Mayor is (according to the majority of citizens) the worst mayor in the recent history of Bijelo Polje. All of this happened with the full political support of the Bosniak Party and with the direct political patronage of Ernad Suljević. That is why it is unacceptable that today, after three years of silence, approval and complicity, Suljević is trying to present himself as someone who is only now noticing problems in the work of the Mayor. He is not an observer, but the architect of this kind of government. And if Smolović is a bad Mayor, then Suljević is the first to be politically accountable for it and to publicly apologize to the citizens for the chaos in the city. In the end, the citizens of Bijelo Polje are not looking for new excuses or new political platforms. They are only looking for the truth, and the truth is simple. Petar Smolović did not fall from the sky, it is not a coincidence or a mistake, he is the political choice and decision of Ernad Suljević, he is his only platform," concluded Đukić.
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