Constitutional Court of the FBiH returns politics to constitutional frameworks or paves the way to the Constitutional Court of BiH and the European Court of Human Rights

(Patria) - In light of the upcoming public hearing before the Constitutional Court of the FBiH, which will be held upon the request of a group of federal deputies regarding the holding of the 8th regular session of the House of Representatives, we contacted some of the deputies who are signatories to the request.

We asked them what they expect from this judicial process, as well as from other requests that are subject to decision-making at the Constitutional Court.

SDA deputy Jasmina Bišćević Tokić believes it is good that the Constitutional Court of the FBiH, after a long time, has taken up several requests submitted by deputies in the past period.

She emphasizes that it is necessary for the highest judicial instance in the FBiH to finally assess whether the actions of the leadership of the House of Representatives were in accordance with the Rules of Procedure and the Constitution of the FBiH.

- When making the decision to address the Constitutional Court, we were guided by the official positions from several rulings of the Constitutional Court in cases previously considered.

Numerous court rulings and positions of the Constitutional Court from those rulings precisely determined us to submit several requests for dispute resolution.

However, I want to emphasize that, regardless of the outcome of the court proceedings, our struggle as deputies for our rights, for respect for the Rules of Procedure and the Constitution of the FBiH, for parliamentarism, the rule of law, and the democratic way of work of the House of Representatives, will not stop - points out Bišćević Tokić.

According to her, there can be no doubt that the current parliamentary majority will continue with the previous practice of exercising political arbitrariness.


Bišćević Tokić: Legal anarchy and violence

- We did not receive the trust of the citizens to merely sit in the deputy benches and silently observe an unprecedented demonstration of legal violence. We are ready to seek the trust of citizens and the protection of our rights even in higher judicial instances.

The rulings of the Constitutional Court on our requests can either stop this legal anarchy and violence or mark only the beginning of our legal struggle.

I want to emphasize that we as deputies enjoy rights recognized by the Constitution of BiH and numerous international conventions, of which the most important for our role as deputies are the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Therefore, besides the Constitutional Court of the FBiH, we have at our disposal the Constitutional Court of BiH, as well as the European Court of Human Rights. Whether we will be forced to use those mechanisms as well depends on the outcome of the court proceedings we initiated before the Constitutional Court of the FBiH.

However, we did not enter this legal struggle hastily and we certainly will not give up at the first or second obstacle. On Monday, we will appear before the Constitutional Court and present our arguments. We hope to succeed in convincing the Court that we, as representatives of citizens, have been prevented from protecting their interests - adds Bišćević Tokić.

DF deputy Mahir Mešalić points out that no court proceeding can change the indisputable fact that the leadership of the House of Representatives has for a long period been depriving deputies of basic rights, which is reflected, first of all, in convening and conducting sessions in violation of the Rules of Procedure, failure to deliver materials for agenda items, adopting conclusions that annul provisions of the Rules of Procedure, convening sessions of working bodies, and primarily sessions of the Commission for Elections and Appointments, without the prescribed number of members for work and decision-making, adding new items to the agenda at the session itself with incomplete and irregular materials, making factual additions to the agenda after it has been adopted, but also through numerous other violations of the Rules of Procedure.

- The current leadership of the House of Representatives has, it can be freely said, suspended the Rules of Procedure and imposed its own way of work, which is an expression of the will of the current majority in the House of Representatives. Deputies are no longer sure which rules are binding in the work of the House, complete legal uncertainty has been introduced.


Mešalić: The minority has become the majority

I believe that such a way of work is a logical consequence of the way the current parliamentary majority was constituted, which implies that from the aspect of the number of votes won in the elections, "the minority has become the majority".

Besides lacking electoral legitimacy, the current majority, through its way of work in the House of Representatives, shows that its work actually represents a continuity of unconstitutionality that has its beginning in the unconstitutional constitution.

The extent to which political violence is carried out and demonstrated in the House of Representatives is also confirmed by the fact that even some deputies who are members of the parliamentary majority have begun to publicly speak about violations of the Rules of Procedure and the endangerment of deputies' rights - states Mešalić.

He adds that he expects the Constitutional Court to return parliamentary life to constitutional frameworks, because if the current practice continues, it will cause immeasurable damage to democratic parliamentarism and the rule of law.

Deputy of the Party for BiH Haris Silajdžić is of the opinion that the House of Representatives has, in a certain way, become prey to the political parties that make up the government in the FBiH, which, in order to achieve their particular interests and goals, are ready to call into question the interest of all citizens of the FBiH, and even openly violate the Rules of Procedure and the Constitution of the FBiH.

- Opposition deputies are exposed to unprecedented pressure and discrimination, due to political unsuitability they are very often excluded from the work of parliamentary commissions, they are not informed about sessions of working bodies nor are they provided with materials that the working bodies consider - says Silajdžić.

He emphasizes that the representation of political parties in working bodies is in clear contradiction with the Rules of Procedure.

- It is particularly concerning that reasoned debate has been completely excluded from parliamentary life, decisions are made based on political dictate, proposals of opposition deputies are ignored or rejected without any discussion, the success of any proposal for a decision or conclusion in the House of Representatives is conditioned by the proposer's affiliation with the parliamentary majority.


Silajdžić: Opposition deputies exposed to unprecedented pressure

Such a way of work of the legislative body, which should represent all citizens in the Federation, is disastrous, because it has become obvious that the interests of political parties and individuals are superior to the interests of citizens.

If we want to build relations based on mutual trust and respect in the Federation, the current practice and way of work in the House of Representatives must change, the Rules of Procedure and the Constitution of the Federation must be respected.

I hope that the Constitutional Court, by resolving several of our requests that we as deputies have submitted, will contribute to the establishment of democratic parliamentarism, which implies not only reasoned discussions and debates, but also respect for prescribed procedures that have obviously been seriously violated - says Silajdžić for NAP.

NES deputy Mirza Batalović claims that the outcome of the current court proceedings could have a long-term impact on the conduct of all processes in the Federation of BiH.

- It should not be forgotten that the House of Representatives is only one in a series of government bodies whose work or lack thereof has far-reaching implications for the daily lives of citizens and meeting their needs - Batalović told us.

He says it is hard to imagine that the way of work that has been applied in the House of Representatives for a long period could bring any benefit to citizens.

- As a deputy, I can openly say that I am not able, or more precisely, I am prevented from performing the function of a deputy in the manner prescribed by the Rules of Procedure, that I am denied the opportunity to familiarize myself in a timely manner with the materials provided to us and to prepare adequately for the session.


Batalović: Decisions of the House of Representatives are already pre-arranged

Besides the fact that materials are very often not provided to us within the prescribed deadlines, they are often incomplete, partial, and even selective, and the opinions of working bodies, which should pave the way for us deputies to the best decision, are provided to us either only at the session itself or sessions of those bodies are held during breaks of sessions.

For this reason, deputies are very often unable to consider all aspects of the issues being discussed in the House of Representatives. Working bodies have been reduced to a mere formality, and decisions of the House of Representatives are already pre-arranged.

Such a way of work is simply not good, and I hope that the Constitutional Court will not turn it into a rule with its decisions, because such a way of work would certainly direct us in a direction that is not good for the citizens of the Federation.

Therefore, I sincerely hope that the Constitutional Court will return politics to constitutional frameworks and ensure that political processes, regardless of who constitutes and exercises power, take place according to established rules that are above political voluntarism - concludes Batalović in an interview with Patria.