The post of Deputy Speaker reserved for a Croat representative will be filled by Stanko Primorac of the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP), while the nomination of Marinko Cavara of the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HDZ BiH) was turned down. The post of Deputy Speaker reserved for a Serb representative will be filled by Svetozar Pudaric of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
The SDP is at the helm of a coalition which includes SDA, two minor Croat parties (HSP and NSRzB) and the regional DNZ party founded by Fikret Abdic, a Bosnian Muslim businessman and leader from Velika Kladusa who is serving a 20-year prison term for war crimes committed during the intra-Muslim conflict in the Bosnian war.
During today's session, deputies of the HDZ BiH and the HDZ 1990 asked for postponement of the election of the leadership of the federal parliament's lower house presidency until all parties reached agreement on a ruling coalition in this part of Bosnia and Herzegovina and on a ruling coalition at the state level.
After their proposals were turned down, Cavara said that the outcome of today's session proved that the Croats need not vote in elections because their representatives were elected by Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks) anyway.
He said it was clear that Bosniaks would appoint Croat and Serb ministers in this entity's government.
The general elections in Bosnia were held last October. Since then all attempts have failed to form governments in the Croat-Muslim entity and at the state level, with the two HDZ parties accusing the SDP of ignoring the will of the Croat electorate and imposing candidates that party wants to represent the Croats.
SDP spokesman Damir Masic told reporters today that the SDP and its coalition partners would not allow anybody to assume the right to be exclusive representatives of the interests of any people.
Masic said that the SDP would thwart the scenario of the Federation being without its budget on 1 April and unable to pay money to budget beneficiaries.
Today's developments additionally worsened the conflict between the SDP-led bloc and the two HDZ parties that have not been able to reach agreement on the allocations of executive posts at the federal and state levels.
Following diplomatic action from the USA and the European Union, the founding session of the House of Peoples -- the upper house of the Federation's parliament -- has been postponed for seven days. The House of Peoples should elect the entity's president and two vice-presidents whose task is to propose a premier-designate.
The SDP-led bloc said today that it would convene a session of the upper house for 17 March.