Is Bosnia and Herzegovina a Parliamentary Democracy or a Three-Part Monarchy?

By: Enver Išerić, legal expert

Today we could read in the media the statement by Dragan Čović: "I think we have started a dynamic process, these days we had talks in Sarajevo, they did not immediately result in effects on the Council of Ministers yesterday, but as we will have another meeting on Monday-Tuesday in Sarajevo, where all those who represent the position of power should sit, I believe we will make a strong step forward and that many things will be left behind".

Čović says that the meetings (of political party leaders) in Sarajevo have resulted in effects on the Council of Ministers. And the effects in the Council of Ministers will likely result in effects in the Parliamentary Assembly. From this, we can conclude that the principle of separation of powers into legislative, executive, and judicial does not apply in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The principle of unity of power applies here. This is a period when the ruler/monarch/king performed legislative, executive, and judicial powers. This is a period of pre-revolutionary civil constitutional and political science from the 17th and 18th centuries.

Here in Bosnia and Herzegovina, political leaders decide on everything. Both on what the government should do, and on what the parliament should do. The judiciary is also under their influence, although not one hundred percent like parliaments and governments.

It would be very interesting to conduct a practical test to see how things would function without these "monarchs" of ours. But there isn't just one. There are at least three.

We could check this if the government and parliament were convened in rooms with no telephone connections or signals at all. And no communication with their "monarchs" - party presidents.

But there would also be no leaving the room until decisions are made on the laws that were distributed to them at the session itself.

And it would be great if such sessions were broadcast live on TV. Only then would we see where we stand. Only then would we see what kind of parliamentary and democratic country we are.