On Monday, the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) registered Nermin Sehovic as its candidate for the member of the Presidency of BiH from among the Bosniak people. However, immediately after the publication of that information, different interpretations appeared about the technical (in)correctness of that application.
Nermin Sehovic did not sign the declaration of acceptance of candidacy, which is considered incomplete documentation.
Some interpreted this as a failure of the Party for BiH, but also as an announcement of a potential political scandal.
However, what is the background of the whole story? The deadline for political parties to submit their lists for all levels for the upcoming elections expired the day before yesterday, July 4th. On that day, the Party for BiH, at the last moment, registered a candidate for the presidency, although it was expected that they would support Denis Becirovic.
Another candidate for the presidency from among the Bosniak people stirred up the political arena because it is clear that Sehovic’s candidacy is winning votes from one of the previously known candidates. As a reminder, the candidates are Denis Becirovic, Bakir Izetbegovic, and Mirsad Hadzikadic.
Upon receipt of applications, the Central Election Commission (CEC) checks and verifies the access list of all candidates. It is necessary for the commission to check all the requested data and to give a deadline of 48 hours to those political parties and candidates to submit documentation if something is missing. During the next week, the CEC should request the completion of the documentation.
What happened in the case of Nermin Sehovic?
Sehovic agreed to be a candidate and is aware that his documentation is incomplete. And the situation is specific because Sehovic is a police officer and, according to the provisions of the law, he would have to resign in order to be a candidate.
‘A police officer will resign when he registers as a candidate for elective public office or from the moment he is appointed to a position within any government body in BiH.’
This is regulated by Article 38 of the Law on Police Officers of BiH.
So, Sehovic’s candidacy is currently incomplete, but it is hard to expect that the Party for BiH or Sehovic did not know about it, especially when it is known that Sehovic is a doctor of legal sciences. The most likely scenario is that they knew what they were getting into, but that they counted on the CEC to give them enough time to complete the documentation, that is, for Sehovic to resign from his position in the police service.
In the meantime, Sehovic’s candidacy has attracted the attention of the media and the public, which in any case can be in his favor, although he still does not want to announce himself on procedural issues.
