Šepić on the Election Law: NB stands by what was signed, we will not accept blackmail

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Although eight party presidents (SDP BiH, SBB, Our Party, NIP, SD, DF, PDA, NB) that are parliamentary in the BiH PA signed conclusions regarding the current political situation and amendments to the Election Law of BiH, only a few days later some of the signatories gave slightly different statements from what was signed. Elmedin Konaković, president of NIP, said today that he would even agree to a solution for the BiH Presidency without the Houses of Peoples.

Senad Šepić, president of the Independent Bloc, one of the signatories of the joint conclusions, reacted to such statements.

“The Independent Bloc, as a responsible party, stands by its words and what we have signed. No partial and superficial options that aim to satisfy Dragan Čović’s ethno-national appetite are acceptable. Those who do not know and do not understand this should just go back a little into the past and remember Bakir Izetbegović and all his deputies in the BiH Parliament at that time who voted for the Council of Ministers of BiH without the Government of the Federation, and from that example they can see that it is rushing from one mistake to another. It would be very damaging to the country.

We will not agree to any political blackmail, nor do we believe that yielding to blackmail is responsible policy. The Houses of Peoples must and can only be resolved in a package with the BiH Presidency, and in that way, the Others will also have their rights, which is what international and domestic rulings demand. NB will remain consistent on these issues as well,” Šepić told Patria.

We remind you that the conclusions stated:

4. Immediately after the unconstitutional blockade of the state institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina is ended, as a preliminary issue, we demand that both houses of the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina consider and adopt amendments to the Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which will guarantee the use of modern technological aids in the process of monitoring and recording the voting and vote counting procedure, reducing the possibility of subjective influence of the human factor on the entire procedure to the minimum.

5. After the adoption of the above-mentioned amendments that will guarantee fair and honest elections, amendments to the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina can be approached in accordance with the binding judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina concerning the structure, method of election, and powers of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Houses of Peoples. The signatories of the conclusions believe that these amendments should be adopted as a single set of amendments to the normative framework in the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, in the same session of the House of Representatives and the House of Peoples.