The general election in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be held on October 7, with more than three million voters entitled to cast a vote, the Central Election Commission (CIK) announced on Tuesday.
CIK spokeswoman Irena Hadziabdic said in a press conference on Tuesday that the entire election process, taking place on October 7, would cost some 8 million Bosnian marks (€4 million).
According to Bosnia’s law, elections are to be called 150 days prior to the election day at the latest. Bosnia’s voters will elect 518 state officials, including the members of Bosnia’s tripartite Presidency, members of parliaments at both the state and entity levels, as well as members of cantonal assemblies. Around 8.5 million marks (€4.25 million) has been earmarked in this year’s state budget for the purpose of funding the October election.
Hadziabdic said that CIK has made significant improvements to the election process, following guidelines recommended by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), as well as local and regional authorities.
Minor difficulties in the work of the election and voters’ committees at the municipal level, according to her, would not jeopardise the regularity of the election. She did, however, warn about other problems.
“We are entering this entire process with unclear regulations regarding the election law. Earlier recommendations said that election rules must not be amended in the year of the election. We are now faced with a huge problem,” said Hadziabdic, referring to the ongoing issue of changes to the electoral legislation.
Two years ago Bosnia’s Constitutional Court ruled that some provisions of the Election Law were inconsistent with the state Constitution. Since then, authorities have failed to act to amend the legislation in the legally allowed timeframe, resulting in an additional court ruling which ordered the deletion of two sections of the Election Law which treats the matter of representation in the House of Peoples of FBiH.
The ongoing political talks on electoral reform in Bosnia have been deadlocked for some time now, despite attempts at mediation by international representatives in the country, who took on an advisory role in these negotiations.
Follow N1 via mobile apps for Android | iPhone/iPad | Windows| and social media on Twitter | Facebook.
