Round Table: Academic Approach to Researching Electoral Systems

Today in Sarajevo, at the Faculty of Political Sciences, a Round Table was held titled "Balkan Comparative Study of Elections – Presidentialism of Political Parties – Limiting Intra-Party Democracy". The introductory paper was presented by Prof. Dr. Suad Arnautović, project leader for Bosnia and Herzegovina, writes Patria.

Representatives of relevant political actors in Bosnia and Herzegovina participated in the round table, presenting their intra-party experiences regarding the mentioned topic.

Damir Mašić, a Member of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH and political director of the SDP BiH, elaborated on the SDP BiH's experiences in applying the "One Member-One Vote" model, by which the president of the SDP BiH was elected from among five nominated candidates. He also highlighted the tendencies of presidentialism in BiH, but also cited examples from Turkey and Serbia, stating that one of the causes of presidentialism in political parties is related to the character of the individual, and not only to the given political system.

Mensura Beganović, a Member of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH from the Democratic Front, emphasized that the DF has gone through a very turbulent period, which is a consequence of the "excess" of democracy within the DF. Such a situation has led to a policy focused on internal strengthening and development of the party. She highlighted the difficulties in securing the support of quality experts for the work of parliamentary clubs, especially in the preparation of legal solutions and decision-making on public policies.

Hazim Bahtanović, Secretary General of the SDA Sarajevo Cantonal Board, pointed out the causality of the constitutional and legal order of BiH, "tailored" in Dayton, as a generating factor for the strengthening of presidentialism, especially ethnic presidentialism, in BiH. In this regard, the Bosniak political factor has the largest number of leaders. "Our problem is an excess of leaders," he stated.

Mira Grgić, a Member of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation from the SDP BiH and president of the SDP BiH Central Election Commission, shared her experiences in the work of the SDP parliamentary club, emphasizing the continuity of "animosity" between the executive and legislative authorities.

Fadil Ćerimagić, president of the Party of the Economic Movement, stated the thesis that "leaders exist thanks to the sycophants who surround them.".

Prof. Dr. Velija Katić, councilor in the Centar Municipal Council and city councilor, said that "a leader is not born, a leader is made." According to him, there are teams that create leaders. "The sore spot of our system are compensatory lists and houses of peoples. Both need to be abolished," he said.

The round table was organized as part of the scientific research project "Balkan Comparative Study of Elections: The Impact of Personal Voting on Intra-Party Democracy," which is being conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania, and Macedonia. Bosnia and Herzegovina has for the first time had the opportunity to participate in internationally relevant research of this type.

The discussions and conclusions of the Round Table will serve researchers in the preparation of a policy paper that will contain recommendations from the national BiH team.

The results of the research conducted within this project can be found at the link: http://www.balkanelectoralstudies.org/