Lazar Stjepanović, the legal representative of Republika Srpska, stated that the essential difference between the Electoral Law of Republika Srpska, whose draft version has been published, and the Electoral Law of BiH is that the Republic Electoral Commission will be responsible for all elections conducted on the territory of Republika Srpska.
Stjepanović mentioned that according to the draft version, the Central Election Commission (CIK) of BiH would remain responsible for the election of members of the Presidency of BiH and deputies in the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH.
He told ATV that the Electoral Law of Republika Srpska pertains to elections conducted on the territory of Republika Srpska.
“We have the election of deputies of the National Assembly, the election of the president and vice presidents of Republika Srpska, local elections, the election of delegates to the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, while on the other hand it does not cover the election of members of the Presidency of BiH and the election of deputies in the House of Representatives given that this is a joint level and for that, the CIK of BiH is responsible,” Stjepanović emphasized.
The Electoral Law of Republika Srpska prescribes the responsibilities of the Republic Electoral Commission, city electoral commissions, municipal electoral commissions, electoral boards, as well as the manner of their appointment.
“Then we have the protection of electoral rights, media behavior in the election campaign, financing of the election campaign, and finally, penal provisions,” Stjepanović stated.
He added that one of the bodies that would appear with the adoption of this law is the secretariat, i.e., the administrative body that would assist the Republic Electoral Commission in its work.
“They would also issue a certain number of regulations and instructions necessary for the conduct of elections, but the law itself contains everything needed for an electoral cycle to be conducted in accordance with the law,” said Stjepanović.
He noted that the Republic Electoral Commission would be financed from the budget of Republika Srpska.
Speaking about the amendments to the Electoral Law imposed by Christian Schmidt, Stjepanović said that his announcement was unclear to him because the discussion is about opening negotiations for BiH, not Schmidt.
“Here arises the question of whether this is Schmidt’s European path or that of BiH,” Stjepanović stated.
He pointed out that working groups have already been formed and have been actively working on finding a common solution for amendments to the Electoral Law of BiH.
“The positions have come quite close together, and I think that a joint solution and proposal that could be accepted by all three sides will be reached,” added Stjepanović.
Source: RTRS
