Hasanović has not yet approved funds for the CEC for early elections in RS

(Patria) - Minister of Finance and Treasury of BiH Srđan Amidžić has not, within the 15-day period stipulated by the Election Law of BiH, approved the funds in the amount of 6.4 million KM that the Central Election Commission (CEC) of BiH requested for holding early elections for the president of RS.

According to the provisions of the Law on Financing of BiH Institutions, the Deputy Minister Muhamed Hasanović can sign the CEC's request the day after the deadline expires, but he has not done so yet, writes Istraga.ba.

The decision of the High Representative Christian Schmidt from June 2022, by which he enacted the Law on Amendments to the Election Law of BiH, states that state institutions must make funds available to the CEC no later than 15 days from the date of the CEC's decision to call elections.

This deadline expired on Friday, and Minister Amidžić had previously announced that he would not sign the decision.

The High Representative foresaw a solution for this situation as well when he enacted the Law on Amendments to the Law on Financing of BiH Institutions, which also allowed the Deputy Minister of Finance to sign the execution of the CEC's request.

"The Ministry of Finance and Treasury of BiH is responsible for executing the CEC's request. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, if the Minister of Finance and Treasury of BiH is unable or unwilling to execute the CEC's request for election financing within the prescribed period, the Deputy Minister of Finance and Treasury of BiH shall execute such request on the day following the expiry of the said period," the decision reads.

Given that the deadline expired on Friday, followed by two non-working days, Hasanović was supposed to sign the approval of funds for the CEC today, but this did not happen.

It is also uncertain whether Hasanović will sign the decision tomorrow, even though the legal provisions clearly state that he should have done so today.

The delay creates a problem for the CEC in terms of realizing the early elections for the president of RS, as the deadline for party and candidate applications begins to run from Thursday, September 18, if Hasanović signs the CEC's request by Wednesday.

In addition, the CEC must announce tenders for the procurement of necessary election materials, such as ballot papers, and any delay creates additional problems for the realization of the early elections for the president of RS.

We remind you that the early elections for the president of RS were called after the mandate of the president of RS was revoked from Milorad Dodik, following the verdict of the Court of BiH, by which Dodik was sentenced to one year in prison and a six-year ban from political activity.