The High Representative has secured the conditions for fair and transparent elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina so that the citizens can be sure that their votes count, the Office of the High Representative (OHR) told N1, in response to the developments in Bosnia's Republika Srpska entity, whose leadership objected the international peace envoy's latest decision on electoral legislation and took steps towards establishing a separate election system in this part of the country.
After a lengthy session of the Republika Srpska entity parliament on Thursday, the MPs passed a draft election law, which among other things stipulates that elections in that part of the country would be conducted under the supervision of an entity election commission.
The proposed document also says that, once it comes into force, the provisions of the Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina concerning the election of the National Assembly members, delegates in the RS Council of Peoples, President and Vice Presidents of Republika Srpska, and other officials, will no longer be applied in that entity. 
The changes came as a reaction to the technical changes to the Election Law of BiH, which the High Representative imposed the other day, after he previously urged local politicians to reach an agreement on this matter, in order to improve the transparency of the election process.
“This is about the interest of the citizens of this country, because they are entitled to the right to completely democratic election standards. The lack of criticism towards the content of the changes and amendments to the Election Law, even among those who disagree with the adoption, only further confirms it. There is still room for the local authorities to finally act,” the OHR told N1.
The High Representative, who oversees the peace process implementation in Bosnia and Herzegovina after the 1992-95 war, holds executive powers which allow him to impose laws and dismiss officials.
“The High Representative reminds that on October 18 last year, which was then less than a year prior to the election, the ambassadors of the member states of the Peace Implementation Council Steering Board called on the authorities to ensure that the 2024 local elections are held with improved transparency and integrity by adopting the changes and amendments to the Election Law, in line with the international standards on transparency and integrity of the election process and positive examples from practice which concern democratic elections, just like the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, GRECO and the Council of Europe's Venice Commission recommended on several occasions. The Ambassadors of the member states of the Peace Implementation Council Steering Board emphasised that the ‘citizens should have trust in election systems, in consistent application of procedural protection mechanisms, and in the voter secrecy,” the OHR told N1.
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