The parliament of Bosnia's Republika Srpska entity adopted a proposal of election law late Thursday, as previously announced by the Bosnian Serb leadership after the international peace envoy imposed technical changes to the Law on Elections of Bosnia and Herzegovina aimed at more free and fair vote in the country.

The High Representative used his executive powers on March 26 to impose the law changes after the failed attempts of political leaders to reach an agreement on the matter.

High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina imposed changes to Election Law

It prompted the reaction by RS entity President Milorad Dodik, who announced that the entity institutions would pass their own law.

Meeting of BiH ruling coalition parties: “The solution is to adopt the Election Law in the parliamentary procedure by next Friday”

Draft law on elections of Republika Srpska was previously adopted on March 29, stipulating that elections in that part of Bosnia will be managed by an entity electoral body, i.e. municipal election commissions and voters’ boards appointed by the entity bodies.

The law proposal before the entity parliament was adopted with 51 votes in favour, while 11 MPs voted against and four abstained from voting.

To come into force, the law needs to be endorsed by the RS Council of Peoples, where the ruling coalition has a majority. The legislation can be published in the Official Gazette only if no ethnic group vetoes the law.

The opposition refused to support the law, emphasising as problematic some of its provisions as well as the need to introduce an election law at the entity level.