High Representative Christian Schmidt said today that he will “take measures” if there is no agreement on changes to the Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but he did not specify when that would be.
“Domestic politicians promised as early as June 12, 2022, during a meeting with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, that they would provide citizens with fair and just elections. Unfortunately, they have not done so to date. They talked a lot about it, but there were no results, so that at the end of December last year I announced that I would use the Bonn powers if no agreement was reached. An agreement has not been reached, and time is running out for them. Citizens want to see that their vote is counted, and if there is no agreement, we will take measures,” emphasized Schmidt in interview for Dnevni avaz.
According to some announcements, this could happen as early as today, and at the latest at the end of the week.
The High Representative also commented on the statement of the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, that he would not accept any imposition regarding the issue of the Election Law.
“I think that the people who live in Banja Luka have the same wishes as the people who live in Mostar. They want their voice to be recognized. The fact that Dodik says that he will not accept the decision on technical changes to the Election Law, does that mean that he will to steal the elections? I would recommend Dodik to relax a bit, to sit down with the representatives of other political parties and agree on the law they promised to the European Union almost two years ago,” said Schmidt.
Schmidt said that Dodik should be aware that he, as a high representative, guarantees the existence of the Federation, Republika Srpska, and Brčko District.
“Let him be sure that I respect Dayton, I am here to defend Dayton, which is the legal basis for the entities. Let him not worry that any irregularities will pass between the entities, that is why we are working together on the Election Law,” said Schmidt.
He also commented on HDZ’s requests to include the election of members of the BiH Presidency in the amendments to the Election Law.
“I demanded technical changes. The question of the election of the members of the Presidency, above all because of the “Sejdić-Finci” judgment, certainly remains, and I think it is counterproductive and harmful to try to put all the eggs in one basket, because nothing will be solved that way. Challenges and questions need to be addressed. solve one by one,” the high representative emphasized.
He also referred to Dodik’s requests to expel foreign judges from the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“I would clearly tell them: “Don’t touch foreign judges!” It is not up to the parties to decide whether they want to have foreign judges or not, they are an integral part of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Constitution says that three judges are chosen by the President of the European Court of Human Rights,” underlined Schmidt in an interview with Avaz.
