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SARAJEVO, June 28 (FENA) - The state of democracy in BiH is weak. The functioning of parliaments is problematic, and the trust of citizens in politicians, political parties, elections and public institutions is low. Unfortunately, there is a lack of serious policy debate among citizens and politicians, and internal party democracies are underdeveloped. This includes such issues as barriers to women's and youth participation in politics, financial accountability and how decisions within the parties are made. Moreover, the BiH political system suffers from patronage, conflicts of interest and corruption, for which there is little accountability, said today Ambassador Kathleen Kavalec, Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH, in her introductory speech at the session of the Association of Independent Intellectuals "Circle 99".
Focusing on the OSCE's perspectives in the context of the topic, Kavalec pointed out that the OSCE welcomes the recent adoption of the budget by the BiH Presidency and hopes that the BiH Parliamentary Assembly will verify it soon. This will make it possible to provide the funding needed for local elections to take place in November 2020.
She noted that prior to the budget being adopted, there were assertions made by some political leaders that no funding for elections would be secured until "illegal and illegitimate" structure, as they call them, within the Central Election Commission (CEC) is revised.
“We respect and understand that the process of appointing new members of the CEC frustrated relations in the coalition. However, as far as the composition of the CEC is concerned, this issue is pending judicial review, and unless and until the court decides otherwise, all appointed members of the CEC are full members of the Commission. Political parties have the right to express their views on the work of public institutions. They have the right to propose their preferred candidates for high-level positions and have the right to complain about the activities of other political parties and institutions. However, there should also be a clear red line - the functioning and independent nature of institutions - especially institutions that are as important as the CEC - must be unconditionally guaranteed, no ifs or buts,” Kavalec said.
This topic, as she said, should not overshadow other, much-needed, reforms of the electoral system in BiH. The OSCE Mission is available to work with political parties and parliaments in BiH, as well as the CEC, to implement the recommendations issued by the OSCE Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), through the changes to the bylaws.
She noted that systemic deficiencies in legislation, bylaws and existing practices, identified by the ODIHR in their final reports following the 2010, 2014 and 2018 general elections, place results at risk of irregularities and manipulation before, during and after voting.
“These issues might not call into question the overall credibility of the election, but repeated irregularities could influence the outcome of contest where the margin of victory is small. Moreover, without getting to the bottom of the irregularities, we do not, in fact, know whether and to what extent they influenced the elections. Citizens' trust in democratic institutions depends, in essence, on the real and perceived integrity of electoral processes. Without that, the long-term stability of democratic institutions in BiH cannot be ensured,” said Kavalec, adding that this is especially important for BiH because if citizens further disengage, the political process will be more at risk if patronage and nepotism continue in a vicious circle.
She assessed that political parties have previously done some work in this issue, but many more improvements need to be made, including the implementation of previous ODIHR recommendations, as well as GRECO recommendations of the Council of Europe, regarding the financing of political parties.
That, she says, is possible with committed political leadership. The recent agreement on elections in Mostar is proof that this can be done.
“As for Mostar, we hope to see the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH will fully consider the legislative changes as soon as possible. It remains critical to ensure a final resolution of the issue of elections in Mostar, that guarantees that the citizens of Mostar can vote in the upcoming local elections,” said Ambassador Kathleen Kavalec, Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH, at the end of the presentation.
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