By: Maja Tuljković
B&H leaders, more specifically the ruling six, did not manage to reach an agreement on the implementation of the ruling at the European Court of Human Rights in the Sejdić-Finci case. Even if before their departure to Brussels they all looked optimistic and deeply believed that an agreement would finally be reached, which would unblock the European path for B&H, this did not happen. B&H citizens are not surprised with the outcome of these talks because they did not expect for their politicians to reach an agreement in such a short time.
We recall that Sejdić-Finci v. Bosnia-Herzegovina is a case where the European Court for Human Rights reached a decision in 2009 in which it found a violation of Protocol 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The plaintiffs are citizens of B&H, Mr. Dervo Sejdić and Mr. Jakob Finci. The Court found that the prohibition of the plaintiffs from standing for election to the House of People’s of the B&H Parliament is a violation of Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights (prohibition of discrimination in the field of rights from the Convention) in conjunction with Article 3 of Protocol 1 (free elections), and that their inability to stand for election for the Presidency is a violation of Article 1 of Protocol 12 (general prohibition of discrimination). The conclusions stated that the implementation of Sejdić-Finci is necessary in order to eliminate discrimination against minorities and the state of B&H violated international commitments. B&H political leaders have been discussing the resolution of these issues for four years, and mostly only when the international community insists on it. Until now several models have been defined, but not one of them was sufficiently acceptable to all sides. The model is expected to be applied at the general elections in 2014.
On 1 October B&H politicians signed principles for the implementation of the Sejdić-Finci decision, in which it states that members of the B&H Presidency would be elected directly-one member from the RS and two members from the FB&H. One candidate from the FB&H who receives the most votes would be elected as a member of the B&H Presidency, while the other member is also elected from the FB&H, but what is looked at is from which five cantons did the first member of the Presidency receive the highest number of votes. Then another member should be from other ethnic categories or from the ‘Others’, and most of these votes should come from the territory of the other five cantons from which the first member of the B&H Presidency did not receive majority votes. This would ensure regional representation, while at the same time votes from the entire FB&H would be counted. The document still remains in force, and politicians are obliged to take steps to fulfill their obligations. For now, all have shown an inclination towards this model, as they did not reject the proposal but rather wish to further analyze it.
The European Commission reiterated that B&H does not have much time left to reach an agreement on Sejdić-Finci. Even yesterday, half an hour after the end of the meeting a process was launched to suspend more than 50 percent of IPA funds for B&H, which amounts to around 47 million Euros. If an agreement is reached in the next few days, the European Commission could suspend this procedure. This process is intended to be an added incentive to politicians to finally realize that the fate of B&H, as well as its citizens, is really in their hands.
However, the fact that not everything is so black for B&H citizens is demonstrated by the European Commission’s continuing commitment to support the efforts of political leaders to find a solution to Sejdić-Finci, and in this way B&H would move closer towards Europe. Of course, B&H politicians should finally show the political will to reach an agreement, but above all, they should be ready to compromise.
