CEC Chairman Kalaba wrote to BiH institutions: Provide funds for General Elections, it is your legal obligation

(Patria) - Chairman of the Central Election Commission of BiH Jovan Kalaba sent a letter to the members of the Presidency of BiH, the leadership of both houses of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, the Council of Ministers of BiH, and the Minister of Finance and Treasury Srđan Amidžić, as well as Deputy Minister Muhamed Hasanović, reminding them of the deadlines for securing funds for the implementation of the General Elections in October this year.

“Given that this institution has a legally prescribed obligation to adopt the Decision on calling and holding the General Elections in 2026 no later than the first week of May 2026, it is necessary for the competent institutions to undertake all necessary activities to ensure that the funds required for the implementation of the General Elections are operational in a timely manner. Although Article 1.2 paragraph (6) of the Election Law of BiH stipulates that funds for the implementation of elections must be secured no later than 15 days from the date of the decision of the Central Election Commission of BiH to call the elections, realistically, this deadline significantly affects the timeliness of taking certain actions, given that certain procedural activities begin immediately after the decision is made, such as the registration of political subjects for participation in the elections, the process of collecting support signatures, and the registration of voters for voting from abroad, which cannot be prepared properly without secured funds. For the needs of organizing and conducting elections, a series of activities and actions must be undertaken which cannot be carried out if the funds are not secured in a timely manner, such as public procurement, training of election participants, and employment and training of additional staff who will work in the Central Election Commission of BiH, which could ultimately jeopardize certain legally prescribed deadlines,” Kalaba stated in the letter which Patria had access to.

Kalaba reminds officials that the election call date is approaching and that the Budget of BiH institutions and international obligations has not been adopted, and that according to the provisions of Article 11, paragraph (7) of the Law on Financing of Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is stipulated that, exceptionally from the provisions of paragraph (2) of this article, during temporary financing, expenditures foreseen for financing elections conducted by the Central Election Commission of BiH, which are covered from the budget of BiH institutions and international obligations of Bosnia and Herzegovina in accordance with the Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina, are considered current expenditures and are realized in accordance with the budget request of the Central Election Commission of BiH.

The Ministry of Finance and Treasury of Bosnia and Herzegovina is responsible for executing the requests of the Central Election Commission.

“Exceptionally from the provisions of any other law, if the Minister of Finance and Treasury of Bosnia and Herzegovina is unable or unwilling to execute the request of the Central Election Commission for financing the elections within the prescribed deadline, the Deputy Minister of Finance and Treasury of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall execute such a request on the day following the expiry of the said deadline. The provisions of Article 1.2a paragraph (7) of the Election Law of BiH stipulate that in the event that the budget for the fiscal year in which the elections are held is not adopted, the Ministry of Finance and Treasury of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the institutions responsible for budget execution at the relevant level of government shall provide funds during temporary financing, either from transferred funds of accumulated surplus revenue remaining after covering expenditures from previous fiscal years, from current reserves, or from funds from any other source or revenue category,” Kalaba states.

At the end of his letter, the CEC Chairman appeals to all competent institutions to take the necessary actions within their jurisdiction as soon as possible so that the organization and implementation of the General Elections in 2026 are not jeopardized.

“We note that Article 2.1 paragraph (3) stipulates that all authorities at all levels and officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina and diplomatic-consular missions of BiH are obliged to assist the election implementation bodies.”