SDA President Bakir Izetbegović emphasized in his address that women have been the backbone of the party from the beginning, noting that they have served as state and entity ministers, vice presidents of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, cantonal premiers, municipal mayors, and list leaders. He conveyed that gathering 1,000 people in one place demonstrates the strength of the SDA Women's organization and highlighted their contribution to preserving the family as the fundamental unit of society.
"Women have been the backbone of SDA from the start. They have been state and entity ministers, vice presidents of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the first cantonal premier was from SDA, they have been municipal mayors, list leaders. Who can gather 1,000 people in one place? You work better than perhaps even recognized," said Izetbegović, also stressing the role of women in preserving the family as the fundamental unit of society.
The SDA President also addressed current geopolitical events and their consequences on Bosnia and Herzegovina. He particularly pointed to attempts by Dodik's lobbyists to impose a narrative about an alleged conflict between Jews and Christians against Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"They will not succeed in this, no matter how much money they spend and how much more they will spend. Dodik is defeated. He has a verdict from the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina that has still not been executed. But the Bosniak Club in the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina has addressed the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, which requested the Court in Banja Luka to state what it has done to enforce that verdict. Dodik will not be able to sign lists, nor will he be able to authorize anyone to do so," said Izetbegović.
He then emphasized the importance of applying modern technologies in the upcoming General Elections.
"It is interesting that everyone in power tried to bypass this, to prevent it from happening, so we from the opposition were forced to push this process. And if the Law is adopted, and it will be, it will be our Law. SNSD, Trojka, and HDZ will not succeed in avoiding fair elections," conveyed the SDA President.
Izetbegović warned about what he described as "insufficient or non-existent engagement of the current government in saving important companies, such as Željezara Zenica and Koksara Lukavac, which are significant not only from an economic but also a security perspective."
"They want to leave us without important raw materials. Eleven thousand people to lose their jobs. This should be prevented, but they are not doing enough to do it. SDA will prevent it. We will also prevent paying over a billion KM to a private individual for the purchase of Telemach. This robbery of the century must be prevented," stated Izetbegović.
Izetbegović also presented his view of the economic results of governments led by SDA prime ministers and those led by cadres from other parties.
"In the last 20 years, SDA held three mandates with its prime ministers, and two mandates were held by SDP with their prime minister Nermin Nikšić. SDA prime ministers opened 142,000 new jobs. Nikšić in his two mandates opened less than 9,000 jobs. The rate of opening new jobs over 20 years is 12:1 in our favor. We were twelve times faster. And that is the fundamental generator of stabilization for solving all problems in Bosnia and Herzegovina," said Izetbegović.
He highlighted that the 2024 Local Elections also showed a change in voters' will, considering that Trojka and parties gathered around them lost over 40,000 votes, while SDA gained 35,000 new votes.
"People must understand what happened and what threatens to happen. The state of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been humiliated in this mandate. The Constitution was suspended for one day. This is not done to anyone anywhere, and they did it to us. Bosniaks have been humiliated, thrown out of power. Dodik fulfilled his promise that 'Serbs and Croats, not Muslims, will determine who will be in power.' That happened. And our Muslims agreed to it, even when he insulted them and cursed them with genocide. They waited for him to choose them. They humiliated our people," stated Izetbegović.
The SDA President reminded that all reform processes, such as the European and NATO paths, are stalled, while economic parameters are declining.
"Eighty percent of pensioners would live below the poverty line if it were not for the diaspora helping their parents, and if it were not for borrowing which this year amounts to 2.6 billion. This is unsustainable. We healed the economy. We started producing more than we spend. Now they have brought us back into deficits, into debt, into depression. We are borrowing enormously, prices are soaring, young people are leaving, and we are slowly sinking into living mud," said Izetbegović.
Speaking about attacks on SDA, he referred to what he called "the abuse of the judiciary for the purposes of persecuting and lynching party cadres."
In this context, he singled out former federal prime minister Fadil Novalić, and former director of KCUS Sebija Izetbegović, whose lawsuit against the decision of the Senate of the University of Sarajevo was declared incompetent by a judge of the Municipal Court in Sarajevo.
"After three years of proceedings, the judge says she needs additional time. And then, when the process came to an end, she says that the Municipal Court is incompetent. She did that when she saw that she could not make a decision that was not in Sebija's favor. Such a thing has never happened in the world. That is a mockery of the rule of law and the judiciary," stated Izetbegović.
It is very important, added Izetbegović, that "Trojka leaves in the October elections."
"And for Trojka to leave, its member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Denis Bećirović must also leave. He participated in everything we are living through today, and he is trying to distance himself from it. If he stays, this cluster of parties will remain in power. And this situation will remain, and it will deepen, and we will sink further. And that must not happen. We must return, not because of SDA or because of the government which will be very difficult in the next mandate, but because of this country and this people," conveyed Izetbegović.