SDA Councilors Club in the City Council: Sarajevo currently has no legally elected mayor

(Patria) - The SDA Councilors Club in the Sarajevo City Council issued a statement today regarding, as stated, serious irregularities in the procedure for electing the mayor of Sarajevo.

"We inform the public that, according to available facts, the procedure prescribed by the amendments to the Instruction on the procedure for conducting indirect elections for authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, adopted by the Central Election Commission (CIK) of BiH in May 2024, was not followed.

The said Instruction precisely prescribes all individual steps in the procedure for electing the mayor, including the submission and certification of candidate lists, signing and certification of statements of acceptance of candidacy, publication of election results in official gazettes, and issuance of a certificate of mandate to the elected mayor.

At the constitutive session of the City Council, during the election of the mayor, none of these cumulatively prescribed steps were followed. City councilors were not provided with certified candidate lists, a statement of acceptance of candidacy certified by the CIK was not presented, nor were the election results published in official gazettes after the vote," stated the SDA Councilors Club.

They also note that, according to available information, the elected candidate was not issued a certificate of mandate, which is a legal condition for assuming office.

"We remind that all councilors began their mandate only after the issuance of certificates by the CIK. In this regard, we publicly invite Mr. Samir Avdić to present the certificate of mandate, if he possesses one.

Considering all the above, we believe that the City of Sarajevo currently has no legally elected mayor, and that all decisions made in that capacity are subject to serious legal doubt.

Any potential disposal of public funds without a valid mandate may constitute grounds for establishing the responsibility of competent persons.

We also express concern over information that certain individuals were aware of the aforementioned irregularities but did not inform the City Council nor take steps to remedy the illegality," the statement reads.

From the SDA Councilors Club, they announced that they will use all available legal mechanisms, including filing criminal charges against responsible persons, and seek protection from competent institutions, primarily the CIK of BiH, and then the Constitutional Court.

"Until then, we explicitly demand:
‣ that Samir Avdić and his deputies immediately cease performing the duties of mayor and deputy until the legal procedure is completed;
‣ that a session of the City Council be urgently convened to find an institutional and legal solution to the current situation; and
‣ that, in accordance with the CIK Instruction, repeated and fully legal indirect elections for the mayor of the City of Sarajevo be conducted.

We believe that respect for the law and procedures is the foundation of the rule of law and the minimum responsibility towards the citizens of Sarajevo," they stated from the SDA Councilors Club.