There is no legal basis for postponing the elections in October at this moment, according to the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina, writes Sarajevo Times
The reaction followed announcements by some political officials that the election could be postponed, with the support of the international community.
However, the US Embassy does not confirm such allegations. Politicians are urged to abandon maximalist demands and focus their dialogue on building consensus on the reform package discussed in Neum.
The Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina clearly states when elections may be postponed and for how long. In the event that it is not possible to organize elections in a constituency due to certain reasons, then the elections may be postponed for a maximum of 30 days from the day of the scheduled elections.
A possible postponement could follow only if, after the elections are called, funds are not provided for the organization of the elections.
We had such a scenario in 2020 during the organization of local elections. “There is no legal basis to postpone the elections at this time. The law stipulates when elections are held and that 150 days before the election date is the deadline to call elections. The BiH Central Election Commission is obliged to act as required by law and we can only talk about postponing the elections due to possible circumstances that may occur after the elections are called “, says Zeljko Balakar from the CEC.
”The law is clear, and according to the article of the Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Election Law, the elections will be held on the first Sunday in October if they do not coincide with some of the religious holidays of the BiH constituent peoples,” said Suad Arnautovic, a member of the BiH Central Election Commission (CEC).
Arnautovic said High Representative Christian Schmidt has not yet visited the CEC and has not made direct contact with them: ”It would be very wise and necessary for us to meet and exchange views. Admittedly, we hostedone of his political advisers and talked with some of his associates, but there was no direct contact with him. However, what we heard during the Neum talks when he said that there would be elections, is in fact a firm belief that the rule of law should be applied in this case as well. We CEC members are appointed to respect the law, not toenforce it. Therefore there can be no other interpretation. We can only be prevented by someone in rare cases, such as denying funds.”
The CEC will certainly call the elections by May 4th
Asked if there was any other way to provide the money needed to call and organize the elections, he said: ”According to the article of the Election Law, the CEC needs to be provided with funds 15 days after the announcement. If there are no operational funds, we postpone them for up to a month. After that, we can no longer move the date every time. Apart from the possibility of receiving funds from the budget, there is the possibility of donations, etc., but again through the budget.”
Arnautovic stated that there are parties that have Croats in their ranks, apart from those in the Croatian National Assembly (HNS): ”Another thing, it can happen that Croatian caucuses cannot be filled in the House of the Peoples and the legislature is blocked. So you would not have any caucus and that would be a really difficult situation. Nobody is calling for that. Any political party, political subject, individual, etc., must not do anything illegal to prevent another. The Law states that the CEC will certainly call elections by May 4th and open the process of registration and certification of political entities. Whether or not someone will sign up is voluntary, this is a free state.”
The CEC has a legal basis to initiate amendments to the Election Law
He states that the current composition of the CEC is very professional and experienced: ”We started preparations for these elections early. We are now in the phase of adopting bylaws, primarily the Rulebook on the conduct of elections, which is the most important bylaw for the conduct of elections. Next week, I will present a new possible look of the ballot, and if it were adopted, it would be a really big novelty in the election process.”
Regarding the negotiations on the electoral reform so far, he says that the CEC has a legal basis to initiate changes.
Not participating in the elections is a political stance
He believes that not going to the elections is a political position: ”Young people and women are not going to the elections and that is a sore point for us. A blank crossed out, or spoilt ballot is a political position.”
