”Electoral reform is key, and strong institutions are the way to overcome the crisis, ” United States (U.S.) envoy Matthew Palmer emphasized after meeting with colleges in both houses of the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
He said that this reform is not a secondary or an auxiliary tool, but that this process is crucial.
“I would like to be clear about the goals of this process. The first is to ensure the legality of the election process. It is important that every vote is heard and counted and that the citizens know it,” he said.
”Secondly, what is very important is that the citizens have the opportunity to run in an equal game, ” he emphasized.
“This supports the perspective of the European Union (EU) and is completely within the framework of the Dayton Agreement, on a state with two entities and three constituent peoples,” Palmer said.
He added that the Federation of BiH (FBiH) should be functional and in balance with the Republika Srpska (RS).
“It is important that the institutional framework outlines the rights of citizens under the Dayton Agreement. There is little time left to reach an agreement. It is very important that the elections are held as planned in the fall, and changes to the Election Law should be made six months before the election process,” he stated.
Palmer stressed that all delegations would be worked on as partners, in order to reach an agreement.
After yesterday‘s events in Sarajevo, the whole team is moving to Neum, where several days of negotiations are planned.
E.Dz.
Source: Klix.ba
