SDP calls for amendments: Lowering the census to 10 percent, giving candidates equal chances in elections

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) of BiH will submit a Bill on Amendments to the Election Law of BiH to the parliamentary procedure on an urgent basis, proposing to lower the census to ten percent. This would significantly facilitate the possibility of winning mandates in all legislative bodies at the BiH level.

As explained by Saša Magazinović, an SDP MP in the House of Representatives, the amendments to the Election Law drafted by the Interdepartmental Working Group were passed haphazardly in the BiH Parliament, and the increased census of 20 percent has essentially led to closed lists.

I have spoken with almost all parliamentary parties and I hope this proposal will be on the agenda at the session on February 20th. True, I haven't seen the colleagues from HDZ yet, but I have encountered understanding in the House of Representatives and the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliament. Our motive is to enable the voters' voice to be reflected in the legislative bodies - Magazinović said.

He also stated that the majority of citizens do not know that there is an internal threshold on electoral lists, just as most politicians in BiH do not know it.

- The current situation is such that if a party wins 10,000 votes on a list, a candidate must have at least two thousand votes to move up on the list. The goal of the SDP is to enable voters to directly influence the personal selection of officials in legislative bodies - added Magazinović.

The Secretary General of the SDP, Irfan Čengić, said that even though he is in the party's leadership, the decision should still be left to the voters.

He reiterated that he believes the 20 percent threshold is not good because it does not respect the will of the citizens, but also that the five percent threshold was not good either.

Therefore, the proposed 10 percent is favorable in line with the analyses. Also, Čengić said that their proposal on electoral units is still alive and that they have not abandoned it.

He also commented on the implementation of the decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH, stating that the SDP does not agree with the Central Election Commission of BiH making decisions that will not be in accordance with the Constitution of the FBiH.

We remind you that as early as April 2017, the proposal of the Interdepartmental Working Group for Amendments to the Election Legislation of BiH was adopted to raise the census on party lists for winning mandates in local elections from five to ten percent, and in general elections to 20 percent.

This means that candidates need 20 percent of the votes from the total number of votes for the party list to move from the position assigned to them by the political party.