Following the suspension of the entity’s Electoral Law adopted by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska (RSNA),RS President Milorad Dodik is now accused of violating the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Berlin’s TAZ daily wrote, Deutsche Welle (DW) wrote.

Erich Rathfelder wrote for Berlin’s Tageszeitung (TAZ) that Dodik, a known supporter of Vladimir Putin, must still adhere to existing rules, writes. The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina temporarily suspended the Electoral Law in RS after Dodik, the RS entity President, ensured its adoption by the NSRS in April 2024, DW wrote.

TAZ noted that Dodik aimed to present a fait accompli. However, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has opposed this move, and this opposition is unlikely to change soon.

The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina explained that the new RS Electoral Law addresses matters already regulated by BiH’s national Electoral Law and transfers the authority of the BiH Central Election Commission to the RS entity-level Election Commission. This act renders certain parts of the national Electoral Law invalid.

OSCE Chairman Jan Borg and Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid also criticized Dodik’s Electoral Law, arguing that establishing parallel structures undermines the country's overall security and stability and contravenes the BiH constitutional order.

The Berlin Daily reported that the Constitutional Court's decision on July 24 emphasizes the need to clarify whether the RSNA has the authority to intervene in matters already regulated at the national level and to regulate them differently.

The Court stated that implementing such an RS Electoral Law would significantly undermine the role of the BiH Central Election Commission and cause irreparable damage to the democratic electoral process and legal stability, thereby jeopardizing the legitimacy of the upcoming local elections.

The Constitutional Court highlighted that electoral regulations are crucial for ensuring free, fair, and transparent elections reflecting the will of the citizens. TAZ also recalled that BiH is currently preparing for local elections on October 6.

The current national Electoral Law for Bosnia and Herzegovina includes measures against electoral fraud, introduced after the last elections, especially following apparent manipulations in favour of Dodik during the recent presidential elections. This led to interventions by the High Representative Christian Schmidt, who imposed changes to the BiH Electoral Law to ensure transparent and controlled elections in October.

“However, Dodik still has some room for maneuver. This measure, as stated in the Court’s decision, does not assume the final decision on the constitutionality of the RS Law. Everything could change with the final decision. Dodik is now trying to discredit and remove the independent foreign members of the Constitutional Court. ‘Foreigners want to destroy the Dayton Agreement,’ Dodik recently stated, revealing his true intentions: to bring forests and mineral resources under his control,” concluded the TAZ article.