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Presentation 4
Lidija Korac, President of the Election Commission of BiH
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Questions
& Answers
Distinguished members of the Association, dear guests,
It is a great honor to welcome you to this Third Annual Conference
of the Association of Election Officials in Bosnia-Herzegovina,
for the first time on the behalf of the Election Commission of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Since the signing of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in
Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1995 we have had a relatively large number
of elections on local, entity and state levels. In all phases of
the electoral process, the assistance of the officials of the international
community, and especially that of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe, an organization which has organized,
financed and administered all previous elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina,
was valuable. I am sure that you share my opinion when I say that
by adopting the Election Law and forming an Election Commission
of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the institutions of Bosnia-Herzegovina have
reached an important level in democracy and the rule of law, and
by doing so have created legal prerequisites for taking the responsibility
for organizing and conducting elections, for the first time since
the signing of the Dayton Peace Accord.
In the upcoming period, the Election Commission of Bosnia-Herzegovina
is facing a tremendous responsibility and challenge. I am sure that
we will face up to our challenges and show that the institutions
of Bosnia-Herzegovina are ready to take over the full responsibility
for fulfilling constitutional, legal and other obligations deriving
from the international declarations and documents that Bosnia-Herzegovina
is a signatory to and is bound to respect. The advice and suggestions
of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and its
professional technical and logistical assistance will be welcome
and most appreciated in the future.
Also, the thoughts and positions we have heard so far at this Conference,
and those we will hear over the next couple of days will be very
significant. It will all be useful to the work of the Election Commission
of Bosnia-Herzegovina. the Commission is, and will remain, open
to suggestions, proposals and ideas.
The Commission work will be led by rules regulated by the law as
well as by postulates that free, democratic and well organized elections
are political and democratic framework, way of expressing election
rights and possibilities to influence people who will most fully
represent the interest of the voters, of the citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina,
of those councilors and representatives who will be accountable
to their electorate, and who will keep this in mind every time they
raise their hand to vote on an issues or a law. The easiest and
the most efficient way to achieve this is by having voters and citizens
get directly involved in the activities of different NGOs and other
organizations.
I would like to stress here that the role and effect of voters does
not end with casting a ballot. A democratic society and development
of democracy calls for continuous interaction of the voters and
elected officials.
I would like to emphasis once again that the role of different nongovernmental
organizations, even political association, media and public is indispensable.
This is where I see the importance of the Association of Election
Officials in Bosnia-Herzegovina, whose contributions in educating
and training election officials has been significant.
Many of the Association members are also members of the Municipal
Election Commissions, and I hope they will continue to occupy important
places in the new Municipal Election Commissions to be formed, as
well as in the overall election process. I am convinced that the
Election Commission of Bosnia-Herzegovina will, with the support
of all government institution, and by this is mean the Council of
Minister and the Ministry of Treasury first and foremost, and with
the assistance of the Association of Election Officials in Bosnia-Herzegovina,
will meet the set goals through successfully organized democratic
and free elections, and by doing so give its contribution to the
development of democracy, to economic development, to political
development, to better lives of the citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Finally, on the behalf of the Election Commission of Bosnia-Herzegovina
and I personally would like to wish you a successful Conference.
I am assured that the conclusions from this Conference will help
the Election Commission of Bosnia-Herzegovina, along with you and
all other institutions, show that Bosnia-Herzegovina is ready to
organize democratic and free elections.
Questions & Answers:
Q: Do you think that the AEOBiH can carry out the Polling
Station Committee member training for the upcoming elections?
A: The Election Commission will not state in its by-laws
that the AEOBiH is the only nongovernmental organization that can
educate the voters. However, the role of the AEOBiH in educating
and training all electoral bodies, and not just the PSCs, but also
of the election commissions, will be significant.
Q: Have the entities fulfilled their obligations in respect
to passing entity election laws (the 60-day deadline has expired)
and how far along are they in regards to this process?
A: Adoption of the Election Laws of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina
and the Republika Srpska are in the jurisdiction of the Federal
Parliament and the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska. According
to the media report and the information that I have, the RS government
has adopted the Draft Election Law and it should be sent into the
procedure. As for the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Ministry
of Justice, in whose jurisdiction this matter is, has formed a working
group, consisting of the members of the Association of Election
Officials in Bosnia-Herzegovina among others, and who should with
their experience contribute to the drafting of the Election Law
of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The obligation deriving from the Election Law is that the Election
Commission shall pass the implementation acts within 60 days which
will serve for the implementation of the Election Law. I must tell
you that the Election Commission and the Secretariat are already
preparing a number of implementation regulations. But I believe
that the deadline itself is not that important. What is much more
important is that we draft the act that will allow us to implement
the Election Law tomorrow, and that will help the election implementation
body members to do their job effectively.
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