BiH local elections scheduled for October 5th
09/05/2008
SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) -- The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced on Thursday (May 8th) that BiH will hold local elections on October 5th. Voters will elect new municipal councils and municipal mayors, as well as new Brcko and Banja Luka assemblies and a new city council in Mostar. These will be the first elections in which representatives of national minorities will be elected to local assemblies. All parties and independent candidates have until May23rd to register with the CEC. Party or coalition lists must be submitted by June 25th.
On Wednesday, parliament adopted a controversial election law amendment that allows all former citizens of Srebrenica to vote in October. On Thursday Clifford Bond, the OHR's special envoy to Srebrenica, urged parties to stop speculating about it. Some say the amendment is the first step towards granting special status to Srebrenica, outside the jurisdiction of Republika Srpska. Bosnian Serb forces massacred 8,000 Muslim men and boys there in July 1995. (Dnevni Avaz, Nezavisne Novine - 09/05/08; RTRS, PBS, Fena - 08/05/08)