SARAJEVO, Aug 21 (Hina) - The Bosnian parliament's lower house on Tuesday unexpectedly endorsed a permanent electoral bill which had been the subject of unsuccessful debates for the past six months. A debate on the bill had not been
announced at all. The bill was included on the agenda at urgent procedure at the request of the Council of Ministers, the Bosnian government, which had withdrawn all previously prepared bills. The text of the bill endorsed by all MPs except those from the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) and the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) is marginally different from the one the parliamentary majority found unacceptable until only recently. Major changes refer to the election of delegates to the state House of Peoples, parliament's upper house, and the regulation of the right to vote of citizens illegally using others' property. National parties' MPs said the vague wording regulating the
SARAJEVO, Aug 21 (Hina) - The Bosnian parliament's lower house on
Tuesday unexpectedly endorsed a permanent electoral bill which had
been the subject of unsuccessful debates for the past six months.
A debate on the bill had not been announced at all. The bill was
included on the agenda at urgent procedure at the request of the
Council of Ministers, the Bosnian government, which had withdrawn
all previously prepared bills.
The text of the bill endorsed by all MPs except those from the Serb
Democratic Party (SDS) and the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) is
marginally different from the one the parliamentary majority found
unacceptable until only recently.
Major changes refer to the election of delegates to the state House
of Peoples, parliament's upper house, and the regulation of the
right to vote of citizens illegally using others' property.
National parties' MPs said the vague wording regulating the
election of upper house delegates was in truth leading to the
dissolution of the upper house. Prime Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija
refuted this by saying: "The House of Peoples has not been brought
into question in any way. It will continue existing as an
institution protecting the interests of Bosnia's three constituent
peoples (Croats, Serbs, Muslims)."
According to the bill, people illegally using others' property on
election day may exert their right to vote only in municipalities
they resided in before the war, i.e. 1991.
This regulation was included in the bill at the insisting of the
parties making up the ruling Alliance for Changes coalition in
order to prevent the legalisation of ethnic cleansing.
The adoption of a permanent electoral law is a condition Bosnian
authorities have been set for full-right membership at the Council
of Europe this year. For this to happen, the permanent electoral
bill must be endorsed by the Bosnian parliament's upper house by
Sept. 2.
PM Lagumdzija said the endorsement of the bill brought Bosnia
closer to the Council of Europe, although he conceded access to it
was still far away.
(hina) ha