The Central Election Commission of BiH acted upon the ruling of the Court of BiH and, in accordance with the Election Law of BiH, revoked the mandate of the President of the Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik.
The decision was made unanimously by all members of the CEC in accordance with the Election Law of BiH, which prescribes the procedure for determining the termination of the mandate of elected officials in such cases.
Dodik’s defense has the right to appeal to the Appellate Division of the Court of BiH, which considers election appeals, and his mandate lasts until the CEC’s decision becomes final.
After the appeal period expires, the decision will become enforceable, and the CEC will, in accordance with the law, call early elections for the President of the Republika Srpska within 90 days.
As a reminder, the revocation of the mandate occurred after a final verdict for disobeying the decisions of the High Representative, and Dodik was sentenced to a year in prison (which can be replaced by a fine) and a six-year ban on political activity.
Member of the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina Suad Arnautović said that due to different interpretations of legal experts, doubts have arisen about the actions of the CEC after the verdict against Milorad Dodik.
“We make a declaratory decision in accordance with the provisions of the law. As is the case under Article 1.10 of the Election Law, when someone dies, when someone resigns, and when someone is convicted. We act in accordance with the law, there is no possibility that the CEC will not implement this decision,” said Arnautović.
It is stated that there is a possibility of appealing this decision to the Court, after which it should become final.
“We have made hundreds of such decisions, we just wanted to clarify this. We need to know the difference between early and special elections. Early refers to the expiration of the mandate held by the person leaving office, while special elections are called for a period of four years, and unfortunately we do not have this possibility in the Election Law,” said Arnautović.
