Schwarz-Schilling: 2006 a crucial year for BiH

28/03/2006

The October general elections, completion of the first phase of constitutional reform, and talks on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU are the three priorities Bosnia and Herzegovina must address in 2006, High Representative Christian Schwarz-Schilling said on Monday.

(Office of the High Representative, FENA -27/03/06)

BiH High Representative Christian Schwarz-Schilling welcomed the election law amendments, which include the establishment of a passive voter registration system. [AFP]

The October general elections are one of three key items on Bosnia and Herzegovina's (BiH) agenda for this year, High Representative Christian Schwarz-Schilling said on Monday (27 March), describing 2006 as a "crucial year" for the country. The other two priorities are completing the first phase of constitutional reform and the talks on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU, he said.

The top international envoy welcomed amendments to the country's election law, passed last week by the lower house of the BiH Parliament, and endorsed by the upper house Monday. A key change is the envisioned replacement of the current mechanism, under which people must register themselves to be eligible to vote, with a system known as passive voter registration.

While 80 per cent of the voters took part in the 1996 elections, eight years later the turnout slumped to 46 per cent, Schwarz-Schilling's office noted in a statement Monday, attributing it partly to a requirement for voters to check their registration at every election.

"Elections are the indispensable mechanism of a functioning democracy," the statement quoted Schwarz-Schilling as saying. "Nothing is more important than citizens being able to exercise their right to vote, and to participate in elections."

The October poll will be particularly important for BiH in light of a transition process, expected to be completed by mid-2007, which will see the high representative's overarching powers transferred to local and EU institutions.

"The BiH electorate will be choosing who will really run this country," Schwarz-Schilling said, urging citizens to demand more from their politicians so that the country may acquire the attributes of a prosperous democracy.

"We must make sure that this year's election campaign is about concrete issues, and it is up to the stakeholders of this country -- individual citizens, civil society groups, and trade unions, for example -- to make the political parties focus on concrete issues," the high representative said. "The parties will not be accountable unless the electorate makes them accountable."

Under the election law amendments, the deadline for announcing elections was moved to 4 May, thus allowing more time for the adoption of the recent constitutional reform agreement reached by the country's seven main political parties. The changes, aimed at strengthening the powers of the central institutions and improving their efficiency, are the first phase of the constitutional reform process in BiH. Further changes likely would be discussed after the elections.

"The political agreement is a first step but an important start to the process of making BiH a stronger state and giving it a stronger government necessary to become a partner in Europe," Schwarz-Schilling said at a meeting of writers and intellectuals in Sarajevo on Monday.