Draw between SNSD and PDP for delegate in the House of Peoples of the BiH PA on July 1st

(Patria) - The Central Election Commission of BiH will hold a press conference on Wednesday regarding preparations for the local elections on October 6th, and the draw to be conducted by the CEC to fill one delegate position in the Serb Club of the House of Peoples of the BiH PA will also be discussed.

As Patria has learned, the draw will be held on Monday, July 1st, at the premises of the CEC.

We remind you that the BiH Court rejected the appeal of SNSD and confirmed the decision of the Central Election Commission of BiH, which recognized the PDP ballot as valid, thus making SNSD and PDP tied with 12 votes each.

At this moment, Milorad Dodik's SNSD has three secure delegates, while the draw will decide whether this will remain the case. SDS has one delegate.

During the voting in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, two lists, the first from SNSD and the second from PDP, each had 12 votes. However, the Election Commission of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, which conducted the election of delegates to the House of Peoples, declared one ballot invalid, which was in favor of the PDP list carried by Nenad Vuković. After that ballot was declared invalid, Vuković dropped to eleven votes, while Snježana Novaković-Bursać from SNSD remained at twelve votes.

This was followed by an appeal to the CEC, whose members, at a session held on December 5th last year, determined ex officio that the ballot was valid. After that, SNSD filed an appeal with the BiH Court. The BiH Court then accepted the appeal of SNSD, ordering the CEC to re-examine the decision. The CEC then again decided that the ballot was valid. SNSD again filed an appeal with the Appellate Division of the BiH Court, which ultimately annulled the CEC's decision and ordered that a decision be made to annul the disputed ballot. SNSD thus gained a fourth delegate in the Serb Club, while the opposition was left with one delegate. Thanks to that delegate, Milorad Dodik currently has a controlling stake in decision-making in the House of Peoples of the BiH PA.

The opposition PDP, after all this, filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court of BiH. The Constitutional Court of BiH accepted this appeal and ordered the BiH Court to re-examine the case. The BiH Court then revoked all decisions and ordered the CEC to decide again. The CEC then again decided to recognize the disputed ballot. SNSD appealed this decision, but the BiH Court last week rejected the appeal and confirmed the CEC's decision.