The president of the Serbian part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik, wants to remove responsibility for the elections in his part of the country from the State Election Commission in the capital Sarajevo.
The parliament of the partially autonomous Republika Srpska will draw up its own electoral law for regional and local elections, Dodik announced on Wednesday in the administrative capital Banja Luka.
Since the 1992-1995 war, Bosnia and Herzegovina has been divided into semi-autonomous entities, the Bosnian Croat Federation (FBiH) and the Republika Srpska (RS). External representation, monetary policy, border protection, the military and other functions are carried out by national institutions. With the Dayton Peace Agreement (1996), the international community guaranteed this state order.
Separation of the Bosnian state association using authoritarian methods
As a Serbian nationalist, Dodik has been trying for years to gradually separate the RS from the Bosnian state. The political leaders in Serbia, Hungary and Russia support him in this. According to critics, Dodik rules the RS using authoritarian methods.
The RS’s new electoral law will be adopted by parliament through an accelerated procedure, Dodik said on Wednesday. “We are taking the election process at the RS level to where it belongs,” the media quoted him as saying.
The Electoral Commission of the RS Republic will then be exclusively responsible for holding the elections to the RS Parliament and local elections in the RS. However, there will be no change in the responsibility of the State Election Commission in Sarajevo for the national presidential and parliamentary elections, Dodik said.
(hah/sda/dpa)
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
