Azem KurticSarajevoBIRNApril 7, 202314:16Bosnia’s international envoy, High Representative Christian Schmidt said politicians in the Federation entity must respect election results and form a government “as soon as possible” after the deadline passed.
High Representative Christian Schmidt gives a press conference on April 7 in Sarajevo. Photo: F.Z./N
High Representative Christian Schmidt, who is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the peace deal that ended the Bosnian war, warned on Friday that he could intervene using his sweeping powers if politicians in the Federation entity do not find a way to implement election results and form a government in the entity.
A day after the deadline for forming the government expired on Thursday, Schmidt called on the authorities to find the solution, saying it was “my last warning”.
“I expect politicians to find a solution to this blockade and resume the formation of a government with the support of the parliamentary majority as soon as possible. This is their obligation to the voters,” Schmidt told media.
“Regardless of whom this concerns, this is a final call to come to their senses. I expect that this will be successfully resolved soon. There will be no additional final calls,” he added.
According to the constitution, the Federation’s president and two vice-presidents must sign the approval of the executive government, and then it needs to be approved by the House of Representatives of the Federal Assembly.
Despite having a majority in the House of the Representatives, as well as one president and one vice-president of Federation, the governing coalition in the entity, the so-called Osmorka (Eight), which comprises eight Bosniak and civic parties, together with the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, has been unable to appoint the prime minister and the rest of the government.
This is because Refik Lendo, the Bosniak vice-president of the entity and a member of the largest Bosniak party, the Party of Democratic Action, SDA, has refused to approve the appointment of the new government, setting clear conditions for his signature. He wants the Bosniak members of the government to be SDA members.
During a tense meeting of the parliament’s assembly on April 5 prior to the deadline, members of the assembly only approved a statement saying that “the formation of government has failed” and instructing parliament’s constitutional-legal committee to find a solution within 15 days.
The current ministers in the Federation government were appointed in 2015, following the 2014 elections. Since 2018, they have been serving in a technical mandate as a result of political blockades related to demands for electoral reform.
The obstacle was removed by the High Representative minutes after most polling stations closed on election night, October 2, last year.
Using his substantial so-called ‘Bonn-powers’, Schmidt set new deadlines for the formation of a Federation government, increased the number of representatives in the House of Peoples of the Federation assembly, the second chamber, and changed the rules on how and when the president and two vice-presidents of the entity can be elected.
But Schmidt did not count on the possibility that one coalition would have a majority in the House of Representatives and the other one in the House of Peoples, which is in charge of proposing presidents and vice-presidents, causing another obstacle to the formation of a Federation entity government.
Source link: balkaninsight.com
