Who will form the government after the election and how long will we wait for an agreement? While the political parties are preparing for negotiations, we remind you of the legal deadlines. By October 24, the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CEC) should confirm the election results. After that, within the deadlines provided by law, the constitution of the government should begin.
From the canton to the federal government
In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, there are mechanisms that should prevent multi-year blockades, while there are no such sanctions at the state level. Seventy days legally, and in practice almost 500 days – that’s how much the difference can be between the prescribed deadline for the formation of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the actual waiting for the state government. What do the laws prescribe, where are the possible blockages and can the scenario of a multi-year wait for a new government be repeated?
The formation of government, at least in the technical sense, takes place from lower to higher levels. After the constitution of the cantonal assemblies, delegates are delegated to the House of Peoples of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to the national key. They then take part in the election of the President and Vice-President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who propose a representative for the composition of the Government.
And only then does the legal clock start ticking for the formation of the executive power. These are the rules that are being applied independently only this year after they were adopted by the high representative in 2022.
“After the appointment of the mandate holder, the first period of 30 days begins to run, in which the president and two vice presidents should make a decision on the appointment of the Government of the Federation by consensus. If they do not do so within 30 days, they are given an additional period of another 30 days”, explains lawyer Damir Sakić.
Mechanisms against blockages
If even after that the Government of the Federation is not appointed, the president and one vice-president of the Federation can vote for a representative. As a last resort, if all the above-mentioned attempts fail, the CEC cancels the elections at the level of the Federation and early elections are called. The whole process could take several months, and analysts are already warning of possible problems.
“At the federal level, there will be certain problems because the SDP will probably control the Serbian club in the House of Peoples, but I do not believe that the SDP, as the SDA did last time, will block the formation of the government”, according to political analyst Enver Kazaz.
The problem of deadlines has not been resolved at the state level. The Law on the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina does not provide for sanctions for violating deadlines, so the possibility of delaying the process of forming the government remains unlimited.
“In accordance with the Law on the Council of Ministers, there are no procedural sanctions or coercion mechanisms that could force political actors to approach the process constructively and make the appointment within the stipulated time,” Sakić points out.
At the state level without sanctions
The formation of executive power at the state level depends on political agreement and responsibility. And where there is a lack of legal regulation, there is also a lack of responsibility. This year, numerous public officials will assume their mandate in the legislative branch, while simultaneously sitting in the executive branch. The electoral law prohibits this, but the commission that should control this area has never been confirmed in Parliament.
Speaking about the competences related to the conflict of interests and the possibility of replacing the mandate, Vehid Šehić, a former member of the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina, points to the changes in the competences.
“The Central Election Commission no longer implements the Law on Conflict of Interest, which it implemented after that law was passed in 2002. Now it is the responsibility of the agency at the state level. The CEC must give a mandate after the election, but, according to my logic, the mandate should be assigned to another candidate from the candidate list,” believes Šehić.
Thus, the CEC assigns mandates, but cannot take them away if a public official holds two functions in parallel. There was a proposal of the so-called replacement mandate in the transition period, however, the parliamentarians never even wanted to put those amendments to the Electoral Law on the agenda, Federalna writes.
