BiH Parliament receives request to resolve issue of CEC members whose mandates have expired

(Patria) - The Collegium of both houses of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH has received a letter requesting "that the abuse of position and authority be prevented and the procedure for the election of two members of the Central Election Commission whose mandates have expired be initiated."

The letter states that the mandates of Branko Petrić and Suad Arnautović have expired, and that Petrić, as the President of the CEC, has not initiated the procedure for appointing new CEC members, reports the Patria agency.

Suad Arnautović's mandate expired on December 8, 2018, and Petrić's on March 6, 2019. According to the provisions of the BiH Election Law, the mandate of old members lasts until new ones are elected. The new convocation of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly has not convened since December, so a quick resolution of this issue cannot be expected.

In addition to Arnautović and Petrić, member of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of BiH Stjepan Mikić (70) has met the conditions for retirement. Mikić's employment at the CEC should have ceased by force of law on the day he turned 65. This illegality was again pointed out by the Office for Audit of Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which stated in the Report on the Financial Audit of the Central Election Commission of BiH that an insight into the list of employees and appointed persons in the Commission can confirm that one Commission member meets the conditions for retirement in accordance with Article 71 of the Law on Labor in Institutions of BiH, because he has turned 65. The auditor's warning was not heeded, so Mikić remains a CEC member.

The Central Election Commission of BiH entered the election year last year as well, aware of the fact that one of the CEC members should, by force of law, be retired, i.e., that he has been illegally holding the position of a member of the commission in charge of election processes in BiH for some time.