SARAJEVO, OCTOBER 11 (ONASA) – BiH Presidency member Željko Komšić today submitted a request to the Constitutional Court of BiH for an evaluation of the constitutionality of the amendments to the Constitution of the Federation of BiH imposed by High Representative Christian Schmidt.
– The entry into force of the amendments to the Constitution of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to the imposed decisions of the High Representative, which are largely unconstitutional, created an obligation to annul such unconstitutional decisions through a request to the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina – said Komšić.
He says that it is particularly worrying that with his imposed decision the High Representative violates earlier decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and thus the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina itself.
– With his imposed decisions, on the night when the voting of the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina took place, the High Representative made a direct attack on the integrity of the election process by deceiving voters, who would have voted differently if they had known about the new election rules, as he did and all political parties and other election participants, who would certainly offer different electoral lists, adapted to those new rules. In addition, the High Representative made a direct attack on democracy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is an obligation from the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in such a way that he misled all the voters in their intention to elect their elected representatives to the legislative authorities that they wanted, especially to the homes of the people who are elected indirectly through the cantonal assemblies – Komšić believes.
He further states that his decision to use two different lists, one for the formation of the legislative authority and the other list for the formation of the executive authority in BiH entity of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the high representative set an unprecedented precedent and brought all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina into a state of legal uncertainty.
Especially for the reason that by introducing the “last census” or the one from 2013, he informally declared the end of Annex 7 of the Dayton Peace Agreement or the return of all exiles to their pre-war homes, thereby entering a very dangerous and delicate area of eventual acceptance of the results of ethnic cleansing. In addition, with his decision, the High Representative reduced the level of previously achieved rights of the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is also unacceptable and legally impossible.
Finally, with its formula 1, 3, 5, 7, 9… (which is actually the Sainte-Laguë method for allocating mandates and cannot be used for other purposes) which is used to calculate the quotient or coefficient of the number of delegates in the clubs of the constituent nations in the House of Peoples The high representative of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina formalized discrimination in the worst possible way, because in this new system, the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina would have a greater or lesser personal value, depending on their place of residence.
– These are all the reasons for submitting a request to the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the evaluation of the constitutionality of these imposed decisions of the High Representative from October 2, 2022 with a proposal for a temporary measure, as well as for sending a corresponding letter to the Central Election Commission not to assign mandates based on the decisions of the High Representative representative, until the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina completes its proceedings and decides on the constitutionality of the aforementioned decisions of the High Representative – as stated by Komšić’s cabinet.