Zagreb - The election victory of HDZ BiH candidate Darijana Filipović as the Croat member of the Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Presidency is an important step forward in the country's political life, Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković said on Monday.
In a congratulatory message to Filipović, Jandroković said her victory had finally secured "the participation of a truly legitimate Croat representative in the work of the three-member state Presidency."
He said this was a necessary return to the basic principles of the Dayton peace agreement, after several election cycles in which the Croat representative had been elected contrary to the political will of the Croat people.
Ensuring full equality for Croats with the other two constituent peoples in BiH, as well as their legitimate representation at all levels of government, "is of crucial importance", Jandroković said.
Filipović, who is entering the Presidency for the first time, won just under 110,000 votes in Sunday's election, defeating Željko Komšić's Democratic Front representative Slaven Kovačević and Zdenko Lučić, the candidate of the opposition five-party Croat bloc.
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković also congratulated her on Sunday evening, saying that "as of tonight, the Croat people have a legitimate representative on the BiH Presidency."