Commission for National Monuments of BiH still in old convocation: Unclear who appoints two foreign members, BiH Presidency or UNESCO?

(Patria) - The mandate of three members of the Commission for the Preservation of National Monuments of BiH expired at the beginning of February this year. In 2021, the BiH Presidency appointed three members: Faruk Kapidžić, Zoran Mikulić, and Anđelina Ošap Gaćanović.

The BiH Presidency was supposed to appoint new members within 30 days of the mandate expiry, but there are still no new proposals. The decision to reinstate foreign members to the Commission has further complicated matters. Until new members are appointed, the Commission can continue to operate and hold sessions.

Faruk Kapidžić has been the Chairperson of the Commission since February. As he confirmed for Patria, he will schedule a session for the end of the month.

Kapidžić submitted a request for dismissal to the BiH Presidency back in November 2024, but it never happened, and he remained a member of the Commission. The work of the Commission is hindered, and new decisions on national monuments have not been made for months, while meetings are held and opinions are given on requests.

The Chairperson of the BiH Presidency Željko Komšić and BiH Presidency member Denis Bećirović outvoted Željka Cvijanović at a session on January 12, and adopted the proposal to reinstate foreign members.

The appointment of members to the Commission for National Monuments should be carried out in accordance with the procedure prescribed in the Rules of Procedure of the BiH Presidency, which applies in this case. Another question is whether the foreign members to be appointed by the BiH Presidency upon the proposal of UNESCO fall under foreign policy. It should be recalled that UNESCO appointed two members until 2001, and after that year, they no longer had any role in the appointment because the BiH Presidency adopted a decision in that year to appoint all five members of the Commission: three domestic and two foreign.

The Rules of Procedure of the BiH Presidency address the appointment of Commission members and stipulate that the appointment is made in such a way that each member of the Presidency can propose one name. The Presidency strives to make a decision on the appointment of members by consensus, and if consensus is not reached, two members of the Presidency can still appoint commission members with two votes.

However, it is evident that we will have to wait some more time for new members of the Commission for the Preservation of National Monuments, which is extremely important, and very possibly until after the General Elections and the new convocation of the BiH Presidency.