prijava
SARAJEVO, February 2 (FENA) - Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Dragan Čović met today in Brussels with Jean Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission (EC).
The main topic of the meeting was the necessity of amending the Election Law, especially when it comes to the election of the BiH Presidency members and delegates to the House of Peoples of the FBiH Parliament in a way that fully respects the principle of constitutive and legitimate representation, as explicitly stated in paragraph 47 of the explanation of the decision on the admissibility and merits of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (U 23/14), stating that ... "according to the general principle of democracy, the right to democratic decision-making is exercised by a legitimate political representation that must be based on the democratic election by those represented and whose interests are advocated for".
"In this sense, the connection between those represented, and their political representatives, at all administrative and political levels, is the one that allows legitimacy to the representatives of the community. Therefore, only the legitimacy of representation creates the basis for full participation and decision-making."
Čović pointed out that the above clearly states that the amendments to the Election Law must ensure the legitimate representation of the constituent peoples in accordance with the judgment of the Constitutional Court of BiH, which clearly refers to the election of members of the BiH Presidency and the House of Peoples of the FBiH Parliament, for which the Constitutional Court’s decision clearly stipulates it is there to represent the peoples, not the cantons.
He said that without these solutions, it would not be possible to hold lawful and legitimate elections in October 2018, and implement the election results.
The interlocutors agreed that these are obligations that, regardless of the scope of the challenges, cannot be overlooked, because the representative function of the BiH Presidency and the two Houses in relation to the three constituent peoples is indisputable.
"Hence the necessity to implement the election in these bodies in accordance with the Dayton Constitution and Agreement, i.e. the relevant provisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH and the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights".
Juncker showed extremely high level of interest and understanding of the issues of the Election Law reform in BiH, and once again emphasized the full support of the European Commission to the efforts made in that direction.
They jointly assessed that the principle of the rule of law is a strategic priority for the EU, which means that all the constitutions, laws and other regulations that are adopted should be harmonized with the BiH Constitution and its basic principles.
They also concluded that the next two weeks will be crucial for the implementation of the decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH (U 23/14), which also applies to the House of Peoples of the FBiH Parliament, and implicit, it refers to the election of the members of the Presidency, which must be enabled in a legitimate and constitutional manner.
In this sense, a series of meetings with international legal experts and international community officials has been agreed in the coming period in an attempt to find adequate solutions.
At the end of the meeting, Juncker announced his visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina for 28 February, when it is also planned to hold a ceremony on the occasion of handing over of the responses to the EC Questionnaire, thus marking the successful completion of one of the key phases in the process of accession to the European Union, which will open the door for BiH to obtain a candidate status, stated the Presidency of BiH.
(FENA) S. R.
