Ministry of Finance and Treasury of Bosnia and Herzegovina informed Bosnian Central Election Commission (CEC) that it could not support their request to allocate funds from the current reserve to finance local elections this year.
The explanation of the Ministry states that the budget reserve amounts to 3,428,000 BAM annually, which is significantly less than the amount needed to finance the local elections in 2020.
The President of the CEC of BiH, Vanja Bjelica-Prutina, told Avaz news portal that a thematic session will be held next week, at which, among other things, the decision of the Ministry of Finance of BiH will be discussed and mentioned.
“We will consider all the activities we have undertaken since the announcement of the elections. At that session, reactions to everything that happened in the last period will be agreed,” Bjelica-Prutina explained.
She added that there is still a period of 15 days after the elections are announced.
“We are obliged by law to meet that deadline. The answer of the Ministry refers to the budget reserves, but also in the letter we received it is stated that these funds can be used in emergencies, but they also state in what amount these funds may be used. It seems to me that this is the amount of 858,000 BAM, and we asked for 4,127,000 BAM,” Bjelica-Prutina emphasized.
According to her, the CECBiH can make an official decision on local elections only after the expiration of the 15-day deadline, more precisely after May 22 this year.
