SARAJEVO, JULY 19 (ONASA) – On Sunday, July 23, the citizens of the Municipality of Stari Grad Sarajevo will decide on the impeachment of the municipal mayor Ibrahim Hadžibajrić, which will be the first recorded case of impeachment in FBiH so far.
Voting will take place at 46 polling stations, from 07:00 in the morning to 19:00 in the evening. 36,193 voters will have the right to vote, and through the ballot they will declare whether they are FOR or AGAINST the impeachment of the municipal mayor.
The decision to initiate the impeachment of the municipal mayor was made by the Municipal Council of Stari Grad Sarajevo at an extraordinary session held on June 12, 2023. year, and formed the Commission for the implementation of the impeachment procedure.
The President of the Commission, Mirza Imamović, confirmed that the Commission has carried out all the necessary activities required for holding the referendum.
“For the first time in FBiH, a referendum is being held for the impeachment of a municipal mayor, while in the RS there have been three such cases so far. The commission for the implementation of the impeachment procedure has carried out all the necessary activities and on Sunday citizens will be able to exercise their democratic right to vote for or Against the impeachment of the current mayor. All polling stations will open at 07:00 in the morning and the process will mostly take place as in regular elections. Polling stations will close at 19:00, followed by the counting of ballots. First preliminary results we can expect the referendum 7 hours after the closing of polling stations”, explained Imamović.
Voting will be done by mail and mobile teams. He also spoke about the activities that the Commission had implemented in the previous months in order to get everything ready for the referendum.
“The commission carried out the procedure of printing ballots, which in the case of regular elections are provided by the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while in this case the complete procedure is managed by the Commission for conducting recall. The complete material is ready for voting on Sunday, while on July 7, we sent registered mail to all voters registered to vote by mail. These mails contain a personal information form, a matching ballot, a return envelope with the Commission’s address, and a ballot envelope to ensure the secrecy of the vote. There are 587 voters on the vote-by-mail list and I would like to emphasize that their votes must be sent by mail no later than July 23, 2023,” Imamović pointed out.
Those who are prevented from voting at polling stations due to illness will be able to exercise their right through mobile teams.
“Everyone who is prevented from regularly voting at polling stations due to illness, and who filled out the forms and submitted medical documentation on time, will be able to vote via mobile teams. The Commission received 48 requests for voting via mobile teams and we formed four mobile teams that will walk around the grounds on Sunday.”
In case of impeachment, the CEC makes a decision on extraordinary elections. Imamović explained how long it will take to get the final results of the referendum and what will happen after that.
“We expect the first results 7 hours after the closing of the polling stations, then the next day until 19:00., when we will count the votes of mobile teams and voting with unconfirmed ballots, as well as absentee ballots. Only after the votes by mail arrive and are counted can we expect the final results of the referendum. That is 15 days after the referendum. The commission will confirm the election results no later than 30 days after the referendum,” Imamović said.
Depending on whether the citizens decide for or against the impeachment of the municipal mayor, the CEC of BiH will verify the decision to revoke or continue the mandate of the municipal mayor. In the case of revocation of the mandate, the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina will make a decision on the holding of extraordinary elections within 60 days.
More than 400 people will work on the referendum About 400 people will be hired to conduct the referendum for the impeachment of the municipal mayor in Stari Grad on Sunday.
“Last weekend, trainings were held for all members of the polling boards, in such a way that members of the polling boards from all 46 polling stations were invited and given detailed instructions and training on how to conduct the process.”
Imamović added that no political entity has registered observers for the election process within the deadlines set by the Instruction for impeachment of the municipal mayor, and no international observers have been registered either.
According to estimates, conducting a referendum on the impeachment of the municipal mayor in the Municipality of Stari Grad Sarajevo will cost up to 120,000 BAM, and the Committee for Impeachment Implementation has made maximum efforts to make the costs as low as possible and achieve savings in the budget.