Bosnia Electoral Commission awaits court ruling to consider revoking Milorad Dodik’s mandate

“We must obtain both the first-instance and the final appellate rulings to review every section and explanation in full. We cannot act based solely on media reports without reading the exact content of both judgments. That’s the starting point, we cannot initiate proceedings without it. The ruling is essential evidence in the procedure for mandate termination,” Hadziabdic explained to N1.

While Article 1.10.4 of the Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina clearly stipulates that “an elected official at any level of government loses their mandate upon the legal finality of a court ruling sentencing them to six months or more in prison,” Hadziabdic stressed the importance of reviewing the official ruling to determine the exact implications.

“If the sentence includes six months of imprisonment or more, that in itself is a legal basis for revoking the mandate, not only the political ban. We must see precisely what is written in the verdict. We’re not ignoring it; we have already requested the ruling after the court publicly announced the verdict, and we have asked the parties to forward it to the Central Election Commission as well,” Hadziabdic stated.

On Friday, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed the first-instance verdict against Milorad Dodik, making it final. He has been sentenced to one year in prison and banned from holding political office for six years for failing to comply with decisions of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina.