Although it is supposed to be an independent body that does its job responsibly, Bosnia’s Central Election Commission (CiK) is under strong political influences, political analyst, former CiK member and representative of the election watchdog ‘Pod Lupom’, Vehid Sehic, told N1 on Monday.

“Five members of the CiK are working for a long time already although their mandate has ended. The reason for this is the irresponsible approach of the House of Representatives. They are supposed to name new members 30 days before these mandates end,” Sehic said.

He explained that a parliamentary commission for this issue was only formed a month and a half ago and completed the procedure but that the House of Representatives has not yet named the candidates.

“The CiK is an independent institution responsible for the legality of the implementation of the electoral process and it was always demanded that they do their job professionally and responsibly,” Sehic said.

“However, politics has entered every sphere of society, including the CiK,” he declared.

Sehic argued that persons who were named members of the body were either advisors to politicians or running in the elections, stressing that this is not in line with the law which says that CiK members may not be engaged in activities of political parties.