CEC does not wait for the Constitutional Court, opposition warns that FBiH must not be "Mostarized"

By: A. Čorbo-Zećo

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The Collegium of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament made a decision on the first session of the new convocation of the House of Representatives for January 17. However, given that a coalition has not been agreed upon at the state level, although the leadership of the House has been elected, consisting of SDA, HDZ, and SNSD cadres, no decisions should be expected at the announced session.

SDA is still looking for a fourth partner at the BiH level, and potential partners do not want to discuss this topic until a final decision is made on the composition of the House of Peoples of the FBiH Parliament, i.e., until the Constitutional Court of BiH decides whether it is constitutional to use the 2013 census for the composition of the House of Peoples of the FBiH Parliament, as previously proposed by the Central Election Commission of BiH.

The agenda of the announced session of the House of Representatives includes the appointment of members of various committees of this House, and the fate of the constitutive session of the Commission for the Preparation of the Election of the Council of Ministers of BiH, which was interrupted after the proposals for the chairman of the Commission and his deputies were not supported, also speaks to how the session might conclude. Staša Košarac (SNSD) was proposed as the chairman of that commission, Halid Genjac (SDA) as the first deputy, and Predrag Kožul (HDZBiH) as the second deputy.

The Presidency of BiH has not yet submitted a proposal of candidates for the chairman of the Council of Ministers to the Commission, although consultations with parliamentary parties were held earlier.

Saša Magazinović (SDP BiH), a member of the Commission for the Preparation of the Election of the Council of Ministers of BiH, stated to journalists after the constitutive session of the Commission was interrupted that the majority consisting of SDA, HDZ BiH, and SNSD, "obviously does not function within this commission and its leadership has not been elected."

And while HDZ and SNSD are announcing blockades, analysts and opposition parties warn that the state government must not be appointed without established authority in FBiH, because such a scenario would lead to the "Mostarization" of the Federation.

Concurrently, on December 31, the Central Election Commission certified the candidate lists for the election of delegates from the Assembly of Tuzla Canton and the Assembly of Zenica-Doboj Canton to the House of Peoples of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH in Sarajevo.

The CEC's instructions regarding the procedure for conducting indirect elections for the House of Peoples of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH came into effect on December 22.

These are the first candidate lists from a total of 10 cantons in FBiH for the election of delegates to the Federal House of Peoples.