A new one in the series of meetings of political parties on electoral reform in Bosnia, hosted by the US Ambassador to Bosnia Maureen Cormack, was held on Wednesday. The meeting yielded no result and new talks have been scheduled for May 3rd.
Political talks on electoral reform in Bosnia have been in a deadlock for some time, despite mediation of the international representatives in the country, who took the advisory role in these meetings.
Two years ago the Constitutional Court ruled that some provisions of the Election Law were inconsistent with the state Constitution. Since then the authorities have failed to act in the legally allowed timeframe resulting in a further court ruling to delete two sections of the Election Law that treats the matter of representation in the FBiH House of Peoples.
As the October election is approaching, as well as the early May deadline to announce the election, the talks have been intensified but with no success.
Representatives of the opposition, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Democratic Front (DF), expressed pessimism over a possible agreement.
SDP’s Zukan Helez said his optimism vanished during the meeting after he heard the stances “especially the stance of the Croat Democratic Union (HDZ BiH).” According to Helez, HDZ BiH leader Dragan Covic is aiming at further divisions of the country with his solutions and SDP is not ready to support that.
DF’s Zeljko Komsic commented that the direction they’re supposed to follow is clear if the Constitutional Court’s decision is applied. “If you want to expand this story, then the whole situation about the Election Law could get complicated,” he added.
The leader of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) Bakir Izetbegovic and HDZ BiH leader Dragan Covic gave no statement prior or after the meeting. The two parties are formally part of the ruling coalition but their position on many issues, including the changes to the Election Law i.e. to the way in which the Constitutional Court’s decision should be applied, are rather opposite.
