Most time 'spent' on functioning of FBiH, HDZ refuses to hear about reducing powers of the House of Peoples

By: A. Čorbo-Zećo

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Intensive negotiations on the reform of BiH's electoral legislation have been ongoing in Neum since yesterday.

The negotiations involve the presidents of SDA, SBB, NiP, NES, and Dragan Čović on behalf of HDZ and HNS, and Ilija Cvitanović, president of HDZ 1990, is also in Neum, although his role is unclear, given that he is not a parliamentary figure.

The first session of the day began with introductory remarks on strengthening the integrity of the electoral process. More or less, all parties support the proposal for amendments to the Election Law regarding the improvement of the technical aspect and the introduction of new technologies into the electoral process.

But HDZ, more precisely Dragan Čović, still maintains the position that the Central Election Commission is illegal. He is in principle in favor of improving the electoral process, but he still disputes the composition of the CEC and the authority of the Central Election Commission to regulate the electoral process. Simply put, for them, the CEC was illegally appointed, and they emphasized this at the meeting.

The Party of Democratic Action fully supported the proposal of the OSCE and ODIHR.

In the second part of the day, more difficult topics were addressed, but the initial positions remained the same. Some models were presented that imply the introduction of electors according to the American system, but according to Patria's findings, this is not acceptable to anyone.

SDA and HDZ still have diametrically opposed views and proposals on everything. And, most of the time was spent discussing the functioning of the Federation of BiH, with accusations flying from one side to the other.

The HDZ model, which they persistently presented today, was literally 'sunk' by the representatives of the Venice Commission, who are also participating in the negotiations. What also became crystal clear today is that mixtures of direct and indirect methods of election to the Presidency of BiH are absolutely unacceptable.

When it comes to the House of Peoples of the FBiH, the negotiators are also at odds, while some presidents demanded the same powers for the Club of Others as for the three other constituent peoples.

Regarding the reduction of the powers of the Houses of Peoples and limiting them exclusively to issues concerning vital national interest, HDZ still maintains the position that it does not want to hear about it, let alone negotiate!

According to initial information and after the first night in Neum, the morning was no wiser, and despite the fact that Angelina Eichhorst and Matthew Palmer are making great efforts to play a mediating role, the views and positions of the political parties are not changing.

Apparently, those in the OHR are also aware of this, so the message of High Representative Christian Schmidt, who said that if there are no changes to the Election Law, elections will be held in the fall of 2022 in accordance with the provisions of the existing law, was assessed as the statement of the day.

“There is no negotiation on that. Democracy functions according to predetermined rules, and elections especially must not become a subject of political maneuvering. Free, equal, and fair elections are the essence of democracy,” said the High Representative, as announced by the OHR.