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Sarajevo (Fena) – Ambassadors of the member countries of the Steering Board (UO) of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) state that the recent publication of the Election Law of the Republika Srpska entity and the Law on Referendum and Citizens’ Initiative in the Official Gazette of the Republika Srpska seeks to usurp the competencies of the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina (SIP BiH) and create parallel legal frameworks.
As stated in their joint statement, these laws, as such, violate the Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina and pose a risk to the conduct of upcoming elections. They add that the International Community will not allow any undermining of the state’s competencies through the establishment of a parallel election system in Republika Srpska.
We call on relevant political actors to ensure the protection of the state by submitting requests for the review of these laws’ compliance with the constitutional and legal order of BiH – said the ambassadors of the UO PIC member countries in a joint statement.
They emphasize the dangerous and destabilizing consequences of attacks on the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the constitutional and legal order of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Such attacks include legislative and political activities aimed at undermining the state’s competencies. The Steering Board, as emphasized, reminds actors that the international community retains necessary instruments to respond to these activities and is fully united in the need to protect the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and multiethnic character of this country.
– The ambassadors of the UO PIC reiterate that the entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina are not states. They exist solely based on the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and do not have their own sovereignty. Sovereignty rests with Bosnia and Herzegovina as a single state, whose territorial integrity is guaranteed by the General Framework Agreement for Peace. The General Framework Agreement for Peace establishes the continuous existence of both entities. The ambassadors of the UO PIC also firmly reject the false narrative that the existence of the Republika Srpska entity is threatened or challenged by any local or international actor – states the joint statement.
Otherwise, the Official Gazette of the RS published the Election Law and the Law on Referendum and Citizens’ Initiative on July 9, which the RS National Assembly adopted on April 19. According to legislative procedure, the laws come into effect on the eighth day after publication in the gazette. The RS Election Law envisages the entity’s appropriation of state competencies in the area of elections, namely that the RS Election Commission assumes the role of the BiH Central Election Commission in organizing local elections, as well as elections for the entity’s parliament, and the president and vice presidents of the RS.
The international community condemned the adoption of this law back in April, saying it was a “direct attack on the state structure of BiH.”