The Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina wrote on Sunday to High Representative Christian Schmidt urging him not to go through with the proposed Election law changes.
The Islamic Community said in a statement it shared the concern of many of its members due to the announced changes because they felt the changes would lead to further ethnic rifts in the state and a new blockade as well as making segregation and apartheid legal.
It is unacceptable to insist on making the votes of one ethnic or national group, in this case, Bosniaks, but also Muslim minorities of Albanians or Roma, less valuable than those of some other peoples, the statement said.
“We appeal to the High Representative and those who gave in to pressure under blackmailing policies in the neighbourhood and blockades being implemented by those who are now being given even greater powers, to continue with the same policies of division and segregation, to think about the far-reaching consequences of their decisions,” the statement said, calling for ending the “hysterical debate” and returning decision making on changes to the electoral system to BiH institutions.
The Islamic Community of BiH accused Croatian President Zoran Milanovic of humiliating BiH Muslims with his statements, portraying them as “less worthy people.”
Milanovic's latest statement about Adis Ahmetovic, a Bundestag MP of BiH origin, in which he labelled him only because of his origin and religion, confirms that Muslim and world leaders should be warned about this, the statement said, adding that it is unacceptable for such speech to become acceptable in Europe and not be condemned.
All Bosniak and civic political parties have already condemned the proposals for electoral law changes regarding the Croat-Bosniak Federation entity, notably the introduction of a three-percent census in cantons for the election of deputies to the entity parliament's House of Peoples.
The census would prevent filling the Croat group in the upper house with deputies from cantons in which the number of Croats is symbolic. It would also ensure that the executive authority in the Federation can't be formed without the ‘legitimate representatives’ of the Croat people.
This has prompted several Bosniak NGOs to call for protests outside the Office of the High Representative (OHR) on Wednesday.
The Klix portal said the draft electoral law amendments were written in Zagreb and that Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman visited the OHR with legal experts earlier this month.
