The discussion of CSOs was preceded by speeches by: Mr. Faris Vehabović, Judge of the European Court of Human Rights, on the key judgments of this court in the context of electoral reforms; Mrs. Branka Bajić, on behalf of the Delegation of the European Union to BiH on the most important EU priorities related to electoral reforms; representative of ODIHR Mrs. Martina Barker – Cigankova, on OSCE/ODIHR’s recommendations for improving the election process and Mr. Dario Jovanović, project manager of the Coalition “Pod lupom” who presented some of the key findings on non-partisan election observation and recommendations to improve the election process.
The process of amending the Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina must include a wider range of actors, including CSOs. In three-day online conversations, it was pointed out that a complex process, such as electoral reform, must not take place behind closed doors, because the outcomes of electoral reform concern all BiH citizens.
There are four the most important ways to move towards better elections in BiH: institutional, through the work of the Interdepartmental Working Group; political, with a compromise between political actors and ongoing talks on improvments; international, with the coordination of the international community, institutions and organizations to assist in the process of electoral reforms; and citizen participation in public hearings and meetings in order to present solutions to citizens. Currently, the efforts of CSOs to improve the electoral process is almost the only and rare, direct contact between citizens and decision – makers and this needs to be changed. Decision-makers should be more open to the processes, and the public should also be more involved in those processes. – stresses in the Coalition “Pod lupom”.
As a result of the discussion, all CSOs that participated in the talks on electoral reform will present common conclusions and determine key priorities to amend the Election Law, which will form a clear position on electoral reform by the NGO sector and CSOs throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina .
