I have spent no less than seven years in the positions of Mayor or Deputy Mayor of Mostar and I have estimated that the time has arrived for me to withdraw from this function. After my victory at the first post-war elections, I conceded my position to Mayor Ivan Prskalo, so as to facilitate the process of unification of Mostar and to let the rotation on all vital functions on City level take ground, in keeping with the Interim Statute of the City of Mostar. My withdrawal is also some kind of concession in this very moment, for the completion of the unification processes in Mostar, as I had promised to the citizens of this City once I had been appointed Mayor. The immediate reason for my withdrawal from the post of Mayor of Mostar is the wish to alleviate Mostar of a kind of dualism that sprang spontaneously and yielded very good results so far, but which could be unproductive for further processes in Mostar.
All my endeavors so far were directed towards Mostar, for it to start functioning as a unified City and I believe all the preconditions for that have been met, of which I am particularly proud. A confirmation of this is the fact that, despite the still grave political situation in the Federation, there are no ethnic tensions in Mostar and it is evident that a powerful headway of reconciliation, dialog and tolerance is on the scene in the City.
The City Administration is functioning completely normally in this moment and a considerable Budget has been secured, creating realistic prerogatives for a successful development and prosperity of the City.
Mr. Tomi} is facing an extremely responsible task of continuing the process, in the spirit of his statements, promises and public endeavors, and I am certain he will succeed in that during his coming mandate as the Mayor of the City of Mostar.