The Coalition “Pod lupom” reacted to the announced process of amending the BiH Election Law, which was stated to be implemented by three political parties in power at the state level (HDZ BiH, SDP BiH and SNSD).
The Coalition “Pod lupom” believes that it is unacceptable that the process of amending the BiH Election Law be reduced to agreements between three political parties or, even worse, between three people from those political parties. The process of amending the BiH Election Law must include a wide range of stakeholders and start with priorities.
The best way for this to be done is to conduct intensive and inclusive institutional work on the implementation of priority recommendations for better elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This primarily refers to the implementation of the European Court of Human Rights judgments as well as those of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which refer to discrimination through the restriction of candidacy in elections based on ethnicity and residence. We would like to remind you that 14 years have passed since the first such verdict was passed. Then, on the implementation of the recommendations of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), especially those that address illegal pressures on voters as to who to vote for in the elections. It is also necessary to urgently implement the priority recommendations of the Coalition “Pod lupom”, pertaining to electronic identification of voters, scanning of ballots, input of results from the level of polling stations, reforming polling station committees and imposing severe sanctions for established irregularities with greater involving the police and prosecutors. All above-mentioned will contribute to the prevention of proven election theft and fraud, for which timely and adequate sanctions are still missing.
Every vote in elections is sacred in democratic societies, and must be protected and reflect the real electoral will of citizens, free from any kind of pressure. Any evidence that this has been questioned must be subject to the most severe sanctions possible, which will be of a deterrent nature. Also, any future amendment to the BiH Electoral Law must be in the direction so to prevent electoral theft and fraud, strengthen democratic standards and reduce the space for corrupt individuals and politicians.
