It is important that the constitutional changes be adopted in the Bosnian Parliament in the next several weeks so that they could become effective before the elections scheduled for October, DiCarlo told Voice of America.
Representatives of seven political parties from Bosnia and Herzegovina reached an agreement last Saturday on a new way of electing members to the state Presidency, thus wrapping up negotiations on the first stage of constitutional reforms which began last autumn.
The meeting was called by US Ambassador Douglas McElhaney. It was agreed that the Presidency's one president and two vice presidents, rotating every 16 months, will be elected indirectly in parliament instead of by direct vote among the electorate as until now.
As of October, Bosnia's president and two vice presidents will be nominated by deputies in the House of Peoples and the House of Representatives.
After the nominations, the upper house elects one representative each from all three constituent peoples (Croats, Muslims, Serbs), who are then confirmed by the lower house, said Covic.
He now has to assure his party to vote for the reforms given that previously deputies said they would not vote for the changes in their existing form.
This model acknowledges a recommendation from the Venice Commission, a Council of Europe advisory body, but also objections from Croat parties which insisted on a model that would guarantee Bosnian Croats the right to elect their representative in the state Presidency.
Bosnian Serb parties (SNSD, PDP, SDS) said their parliamentary deputies would support the reforms.
Haris Silajdzic's Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina is the only significant party openly against the reforms.