On Monday, 25 June 2018, a delegation from the Congress' ‟Reflection Group on Mostar” met in Sarajevo with the President of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Irena HADZIABDIC, and her team to discuss the situation of the country several months prior to the general elections to be held on 7 October and, more particularly, on the failure of holding local elections in the city of Mostar.

Mrs HADZIABDIC underlined the complexity of the situation in this city and confirmed that the Central Election Commission was technically prepared to hold local elections in Mostar, as soon as a solution will be found. “Our Commission has no competence over the electoral system in the City of Mostar, as changes in the Election Law have to be adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It’s not our role to solve legislation problems. We only need clear rules to proceed,” she stressed.

The Congress delegation and the Commission also exchanged on the forthcoming general elections to be held in BiH on 7 October 2018, and, in particular, on the regional elections which will be observed by the Congress. According to the CEC, some important technical improvements have been achieved, despite the fact that there was no breakthrough in respect of the required crucial amendments of the Electoral Law. "There will be the names and party affiliations visible for the members of the polling station commissions and there will be also special accounts for campaign activities. These may seem minor issues but we consider them important, nonetheless, for ensuring transparent elections", the President of CEC underlined.

The Congress Reflection Group was set up to contribute to a sustainable solution for restoring local democracy in Mostar where since 10 years no local elections have been held due to political stalemate. The delegation included Anders KNAPE (Sweden, EPP/CCE), President of the Chamber of Local Authorities of the Congress, Stewart DICKSON (United Kingdom, ILDG), Thematic Spokesperson on observation of local and regional elections, Barbara TOCE, Congress Vice-President (Italy, SOC), as well as Dr. Franz SCHAUSBERGER, Member of the EU-Committee of the Regions and Chair of the CoR's Working Group on Western Balkans.

The visit of the Reflection Group in Sarajevo and Mostar is part of the Congress activities to promote local and regional democracy in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition to the observation of the regional elections, the Congress will also carry out a monitoring visit, in November 2018, to evaluate the implementation of the European Charter of Local Self-Government.

Members of the delegation:

• Mr Anders KNAPE (Congress, EPP/CCE, Sweden), President of the Chamber of Local Authorities of the Congress
• Mr Stewart DICKSON (Congress, ILDG, United Kingdom), Thematic Spokesperson on observation of local and regional elections, Rapporteur of the 2016 Election Observation Mission to BiH
• Mrs Barbara TOCE (Congress, SOC, Italy), Vice-President of the Congress
• Dr. Franz SCHAUSBERGER (EU), Member of the Commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs (CIVEX), Chair of the CoR's Working Group on Western Balkans
• Expert - Prof. Dr. jur. Jens WOELK; Associate Professor of Comparative Constitutional Law, member of the Congress Group of Independent Experts on the European Charter of Local Self‑Government

Photos: FLICKR

See also:

• Web page on the "Reflection Group on Mostar"
• Web page on the observation of local and regional elections

Contact:
Congress of Local and Regional Authorities
Renate ZIKMUND
Head of Division, Local and Regional Election Observation
Tel: +33 (0)6 59 78 64 55
[email protected]