prijava
SARAJEVO, November 13 (FENA) - The United States Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Eric Nelson today sent out a message to the citizens before the local elections on Sunday.
His blogpost follows below in its entirety.
As a friend of BiH, I'd like to share a message with BiH citizens as they prepare to head to the polls in a few days.
Elections are the fundamental basis of democracy, and the ability to vote is the hard-won right that empowers citizens and allows their voices to be heard. Elections cannot be truly representative, however, unless citizens actively exercise that right, and I encourage every BiH citizen to do so. In my own country’s recent elections, we saw that a global pandemic did not deter citizens from embracing their right to vote and turning out in record numbers across the United States.
Each of you deserves a good life and a prosperous future. You deserve leaders ready to work for you, not for their own benefit or the benefit of their party. That's why it is so important for each of you to take an active role in choosing who will represent you. You will be voting for those who should be working on local issues that directly matter to you and your family.
Your local representatives are responsible for improving transportation and other public infrastructure, making decisions about educational resources that will impact your children, guiding your community through a global pandemic, and many other issues that affect daily life. Because you know many of the candidates directly, you can make informed decisions as to who is qualified, honest and motivated to work for you, rather than work for their own narrow political or personal interests. I have faith that you, the citizens, will not settle for manipulation and divisive narratives meant to distract you from these important local issues.
I especially hope that young people realize the power they have to make BiH a better place. I hope that they know that taking an active role, getting to the polls, and casting a vote is the way they can take charge of their future. Elections can’t change the past, but they can change the future. And the future impacts young voters most of all.
Throughout my tenure in BiH, I've heard citizens from every part of the country vent their frustrations about election irregularities.
But I offer to you that there is a way to decrease the chances for irregularities--take action and vote! The greater the voter turnout, the smaller the possibility for manipulation. High voter turnout combined with transparent and non-partisan elections monitoring by the NGO community in BiH will go a long way to helping prevent fraud. I’ve also heard many stories of voters selling their votes for as little as 50 KM. It is worth much more, and I urge every citizen to value their vote, defend their vote, and exercise their vote freely.
I urge you all to exercise your right to vote. As you do so, the United States will do its part to advance efforts to make the election process fairer and more transparent. Election reforms long recommended by the OSCE and Council of Europe are a fundamental requirement for BiH to achieve EU candidate status, making 2021 a critical year for action, wrote Ambassador Nelson.
(FENA) S. R.
