Alma Čolo: The issue of amending the Election Law is not just an issue for SDA and HDZ

(Patria) - Alma Čolo, SDA MP in the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, told N1 that the issue of amending the Election Law is not just an issue for SDA and HDZ. She also emphasized that SDA's position is that the Venice Commission should propose a solution that is in line with democratic standards.

Čolo stressed that we currently have a tense situation in the country. She reminded that the state parliament is blocked, and that MPs from Republika Srpska are not coming to the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH.

"The question arises as to what kind of agreement can be reached on the Election Law, possibly between HDZ and SDA, and whether such an agreement results in amendments to the Election Law in the Parliamentary Assembly. Why would you discuss if you cannot apply it to amendments and additions to the Election Law?" she said.

She reminded that the Interdepartmental Working Group for the Amendment of the Election Legislation of BiH is not meeting because members of that group from RS are not participating in the work of the Interdepartmental Group.

"We do not have a quorum and we cannot work without them. They said that when the institutions of BiH are unblocked, they will unblock the Interdepartmental Working Group," she stated.

She is of the opinion that the issue of amending the Election Law is not just an issue for SDA and HDZ.

"We are an undemocratic country in accordance with our Constitution. Our Constitution is not democratic. Croats are dissatisfied, there are 545,000 of them according to the 2013 census, which is 15 percent, and they, as a nation so poorly represented in BiH, believe that their electorate cannot influence the election of that one member of the Presidency, who is a Croat according to the Constitution. He is not the Croat member of the Presidency as is wrongly interpreted. He is a Croat elected in the territory of the Federation of BiH," Čolo pointed out.

She also said that Croats have managed to elect their representative who suited them in several election cycles, and that was Dragan Čović.

"However, it happens that the citizens of BiH want something different. We have constant accusations from HDZ that SDA created this electoral engineering, as they call it, for Željko Komšić to be elected and that Bosniaks elected him. This is a completely false claim, because SDA does not elect in elections. Bosniaks are part of the electorate in BiH, but the voter list does not indicate the ethnicity of any voter by name," said our interlocutor.

She believes that SDA's position is that the Venice Commission should propose a solution that is in line with democratic standards.

"The Venice Commission's position is that electoral units cannot be based on ethnic principles in BiH, as this leads to segregation and is not in line with democratic standards.

When it comes to the three members of the Presidency, the Venice Commission's position is that the prefix 'Bosniak', 'Serb', and 'Croat' should be removed," she stated, adding that the political climate certainly does not contribute to resolving this in a quality manner.

"We need discussions, but I don't know how good an election year is for that. The House of Peoples at the state level is also discriminatory, and the Court in Strasbourg has stated that its concept is not in line with the European Convention on Human Rights, because it states that five Serbs come from RS, five Bosniaks and five Croats from the Federation of BiH. This prevents all those who are not Serbs from RS from being candidates for the House of Peoples, and all those who are not Bosniaks and Croats in the Federation from being candidates," stated Čolo.

She emphasized that this must change, but she is not sure if it is possible, because, as she pointed out, the Croatian position is so firm that they do not want to give up on the concept of constituent peoples."