RS Election Commission Refuses to Participate in Early Elections in the Smaller BiH Entity

(Patria) - The RS Election Commission today made a decision not to conduct early elections for the president of the RS, stating that it is acting in accordance with the conclusions recently adopted by the National Assembly of the RS.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) of BiH called early elections for November 23.

This position became vacant after the CEC of BiH revoked Milorad Dodik's mandate on August 18, based on a final verdict of the Court of BiH, which sentenced him to one year in prison and a six-year ban from holding public office for failing to implement the decisions of the High Representative.

Commission President Oliver Blagojević stated that the "conclusions of the National Assembly of the RS will be fully respected," emphasizing that the decision was made at an extraordinary telephone session.

"I expect that other bodies, both at the RS level and at the municipal level, will also respect the parliamentary conclusions related to early elections and everything else," Blagojević told RTRs.

The National Assembly of the RS adopted a set of conclusions on August 22, which, among other things, oppose the holding of early elections for the president of the RS and demand that all institutions in that entity do not undertake activities related to the calling of elections.