The High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Christian Schmidt, sent a letter to the president and vice-presidents of the Federation of BiH (FBiH), requesting that the procedure for appointing judges to the Constitutional Court of that entity be completed and the Council for National Interests be filled. We will try to explain why this pressure is coming now and how it is connected with the electoral law.
Schmidt has been high representative for a year, and so far he has already three times reached for Bonn powers, an option that allows him to intervene in all laws and constitutions except the national one. As things stand, Schmidt does not intend to stop, and new impositions of the law can be expected.
When he recently imposed technical changes to the electoral law, the high representative politely invited domestic leaders to find a solution for the political segment of the electoral law as soon as possible. However, it is evident that there are no signs of any negotiations, let alone agreements, in the campaign that has been heating up for a long time. Without that, Schmidt hinted that he would intervene again.
Although Schmidt, at least publicly, did not set any deadline, the United States (U.S.) Embassy recently pointed out that political actors were given six weeks for the possibility of an agreement, which corresponds to mid-September.
And if the high representative imposes the political segments of the election law, it is evident that this decision will go in the direction of the previously published draft decision, which has already caused stormy reactions and huge dissatisfaction of political parties based in Sarajevo.
Here we come to Schmidt’s letter to the leadership of the Federation of BiH, in which the high representative rather generalizes the problem and equally calls on President Marinko Cavara (HDZ) and Vice Presidents Melika Mahmutbegovic(SDA) and Milan Dunovic (DF) to stop the appointment of judges to the FBiH Constitutional Court.
The question arises why Schmidt only now, after being there for a year, is pressuring Cavara to sign the appointment of judges to the FBiH Constitutional Court. As a potential answer, the sentence could follow that the international community was waiting for the domestic leaders to come to an agreement, but since that did not happen, the pressure increased.
However, everything is happening at a very interesting moment, in the midst of the pre-election campaign and at the very end of the mandate in which the power of government in FBiH is technical. Therefore, the citizens of the FBiH, for whom Schmidt emphasized that he cares and uses the Bonn powers for their sake, have had an executive power that was elected after the elections in 2014 for almost four years. Such a case has rarely been recorded anywhere. But all these years everyone suffered, both political actors and the international community.
In the period until the elections, Schmidt can now leave room for Cavara to unblock the process after three years and approve the appointment of judges. If that happens, such a move will be presented as a positive step forward and HDZ’s willingness to cooperate. In such circumstances, greater pressure will be placed on the parties based in Sarajevo, who will be asked to make concessions regarding the electoral law.
If Cavara maintains his political stubbornness and continues to ignore both the law and Schmidt’s messages, it will be a signal for the high representative to finish that part of the job and impose a decision on the appointment of judges.
That act could be presented as a “blow” to HDZ and a correct move in favor of the state, i.e. FBiH. This could automatically open up space for Schmidt to impose the political part of the changes to the electoral law, which could ultimately be more in favor of the HDZ. But, Schmidt would create an alibi for himself and could say that in reaching for the Bonn powers, he made decisions that neither party liked and that they were in the interest of citizens and the functioning of institutions.
After years of political suppression, it seems that not only the political scene in BiH has become dormant, with elements of senility, the international community is showing the same signs. Tired of domestic blockades, obstructions and non-cooperation, it sometimes seems that no one has the patience to untangle the problems as they were lined up. Any solution is being sought, regardless of the fact that new elections are just around the corner, Klix.ba reports.
E.Dz.
