Palmer and Eichhorst Meet with Members of the Interdepartmental Group

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Matthew Palmer, US Special Envoy for Electoral Reform in BiH, and Angelina Eichhorst, representative of the European External Action Service, met with members of the Interdepartmental Working Group for Amendments to the Electoral Legislation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the building of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH.

This is a continuation of the negotiations that resumed yesterday with members of the collegia of both houses of the BiH Parliament.

After that, a meeting was held in the EU Delegation building with politicians from Republika Srpska, namely Milorad Dodik, leader of SNSD, Petar Đokić, president of SP, Nedeljko Čubrilović, and Nenad Stevandić, president of Ujedinjena Srpska, N1 reports.

A meeting was also held with the opposition from RS, and the day concluded with talks with Bakir Izetbegović, leader of SDA, and Dragan Čović, president of HDZ.

The messages after the meeting were quite expected.

Palmer and Eichhorst emphasized that time is running out, consensus has not yet been reached, but that BiH politicians must work on harmonizing demands and finding compromises.

Dragan Čović is not backing down on the issue of legitimate representation and resolving the issue of the House of Peoples, while Bakir Izetbegović says that a solution is possible if HDZ stops blocking processes in the FBiH.

Milorad Dodik, on the other hand, says he will not waste time on it because there is no possibility for RS to accept indirect election when it comes to electing members of the Presidency. He said that the key issue is the election law and the electoral reform that defines it.

After today's meetings, Palmer and Eichorst will go to Neum where negotiations will continue.

Representatives of SDP and DF are not attending the negotiations.