Emergency Session of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina Requested by RS Deputies: Consideration of the Political Situation in BiH Institutions

(Patria) - The Chairman of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nebojša Radmanović (SNSD), has scheduled the 13th emergency session of this house for April 18, 2024.

The request for the emergency session was submitted by deputies of the SNSD and partner parties: Sanja Vulić, Obren Petrović, Ljubica Miljanović, Milorad Kojić, Milan Petković, Miroslav Vujičić, and Čedomir Stojanović.

The sole item on the agenda reads: Consideration of the current political situation in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina – the constitutional legislative role of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, in accordance with Article IV.4.a) of the Constitution of BiH.

We remind that the new crisis and threats from the RS occurred after High Representative Christian Schmidt imposed more than 100 amendments to the Election Law of BiH, after the BiH authorities failed to do so, with little time left before the local elections were to be called.

The RS government, led by Milorad Dodik, two days after Schmidt's imposition, adopted a series of conclusions in the RS National Assembly, as well as a Draft Election Law of the RS. Sessions of the RS National Assembly are scheduled for the following week, April 18 and 19, when the Proposal of the Election Law is expected to be adopted, thereby the RS entity would derogate the state law and the role of the Central Election Commission.

Among the conclusions adopted by the RS National Assembly is a demand that Schmidt withdraw his amendments within seven days. Given that this did not happen, deputies from the RS submitted a request for holding a session of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH. One of the conclusions of the RS National Assembly states that the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH should declare all decisions of Christian Schmidt, who falsely presents himself as the High Representative, as impermissible and void; prohibit BiH authorities from implementing those decisions; declare the OHR website an unacceptable and unlawful place for publishing acts; prohibit the Official Gazette of BiH from publishing acts of foreigners and their organizations; adopt the Election Law of BiH at the same session of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, with all improvements concerning electoral integrity; strip the Central Election Commission of its unconstitutional activities; achieve political consensus on the further European path of BiH and significantly accelerate that process; and adopt a Declaration confirming the territorial integrity of BiH.