The heads of international organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) called on BiH authorities to fulfill their legal obligation to ensure timely and adequate funding for the 2022 general elections.
According to the letter, signed by the head of the European Union (EU) Delegation Johann Sattler, High Representative Christian Schmidt, the head of the OSCE Mission Kathleen Kavalec, and the United States (U.S.) Ambassador Eric Nelson, this includes, but is not limited to securing the payment of 1.054.500 BAM as required by the Central Election Commission (CEC) in accordance with its operational plan.
The letter to the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH Zoran Tegeltija and deputies Vjekoslav Bevanda and BiseraTurkovic reminds that ahead of the local elections in 2020 we witnessed significant delays in adopting the budget of BiH institutions and international obligations, to the detriment of democratic rights.
“Two years later, BiH is unfortunately in the same situation. The Parliamentary Assembly of BiH should have adopted the budget of BiH institutions and international obligations for 2022 by December 31, 2021. It is crucial for the BiH authorities to urgently provide funds for conducting general elections for 2022, ” the letter states.
Fortunately, they emphasize, the lack of budget adoption does not have to limit the total capacity and scope of activities that the CEC of BiH must carry out to implement preparatory activities, including procurement, since they are necessary for the general elections and all that because they are already foreseen by the decision on temporary financing.
Namely, the Decision on Temporary Financing of Institutions of BiH and International Obligations, adopted by the Council of Ministers of BiH on December 30th, 2021, envisages expenditures for the period January-March 2022 based on the Law on Budget of BiH Institutions for 2020.
They called for the fulfillment of the legal obligation to ensure timely and adequate funding for the 2022 General Elections.
“I will ask the BiH Council of Ministers to meet as soon as possible on this issue and for the BiH Council of Ministers to make relevant decisions,” Turkovic explained in a statement for agency Fena.
E.Dz.
Source: Klix.ba
