FBiH Government Sends Draft Laws to Parliament: Goražde, Cazin, and Livno Become New Cities

The FBiH Government, at today's session in Sarajevo, determined and sent to parliamentary procedure draft laws stipulating that Goražde, Cazin, and Livno will be granted city status, the Government announced, writes Patria.

The laws define the territories, prescribe the characteristics, bodies, and methods of electing city councils and mayors, regulate the adoption of temporary statutory decisions and statutes, the calling of elections, and other important issues.

The territories of the cities of Goražde, Cazin, and Livno comprise all populated places that, according to the records of the Federal Bureau of Statistics, are within each of these municipalities on the day the laws come into force.

The three new cities are local self-government units and have legal personality, and their self-governing bodies are city councils and mayors.

The statutes of Goražde, Cazin, and Livno prescribe and regulate the self-governing scope of these cities, their symbols, seat, public recognitions, organization, powers, and working methods of their bodies, the mutual relations between city councils and mayors, forms of direct citizen decision-making, cooperation with other local self-government units, and other issues. The statutes must be harmonized with the constitutions of the Federation of BiH and Bosansko-podrinjski, Unsko-sanski, and Canton 10, as well as federal and cantonal legislation.

Upon the entry into force of these laws, the councilors of the municipal councils and the mayors of Goražde, Cazin, and Livno will continue their work as councilors of the city councils and mayors. Municipal administrative bodies and administrative organizations, professional and other services, and other municipal bodies will continue to operate as city bodies and services, and this also applies to public enterprises and institutions founded by these three municipalities.

The city status for Goražde, Cazin, and Livno would enable, among other things, easier access to European development funds.