After the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) adopted a decision to annul the early elections for the president of Republika Srpska (RS) in 17 cities, the president of the SNSD, Milorad Dodik, reacted by directing sharp criticism at this institution.
The CEC explained its decision by citing a large number of identified irregularities in the electoral process, stating that at the polling stations covered by the decision, around 16.000 disputed ballots were recorded, which, according to the Commission’s assessment, could have an impact on the final election outcome. In those elections, according to previously published results, victory was won by Sinisa Karan, while his opponent was Branko Blanusa of the SDS.
In his reaction, Dodik assessed that the CEC no longer acts as an independent body responsible for conducting elections, but rather as a political actor. He claims that the Commission, as he stated, has lost its institutional credibility and that it operates in the interest of several political parties, including the SDS, PDP, SDA, SDP, and Narod i pravda.
According to him, by the decision to annul the elections, the CEC has, as he believes, called into question the legitimacy of the electoral process and, as he stated, humiliated the voters of RS, its citizens and institutions, as well as institutions at the level of BiH.
In the continuation of his statement, Dodik asserted that the CEC, in his view, is taking on roles that do not belong to it, stating that it behaves as if it wants to be both the organizer of elections and a participant in the political process at the same time. He warned that such conduct, as he said, further destabilizes political relations in BiH and represents a threat to its already fragile foundations.
Dodik said that, if such actions by the CEC are not opposed, responsibility for possible consequences would be wrongly shifted onto the RS. He also specifically referred to CEC member Vanja Bjelica Prutina, presenting a series of serious accusations against her, which are part of his political reaction to the Commission’s decision.
