Article author:
Associated Press
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (AP) — The international envoy tasked with overseeing Bosnia's 1995 peace accord addressed the country's political leaders in response to a journalist's question that the deal had failed. Changes to voting laws frowned upon in outbursts of anger.
Christian Schmidt, who became Bosnia and Herzegovina's International High Representative more than a year ago, has called for changes to the electoral law to be imposed if Bosnian national leaders continue to fail in their duties. I suggested earlier to consider.
This threat forced the political leaders of his three main ethnic groups in the country, Bosnians, Serbs, and Croats, to deny that Schmidt had their electorate. Began to accuse it of planning debilitating changes.
A video showed Germany's former Minister of Agriculture Schmidt furiously reacting to reporters' questions about the accusations on Wednesday.
"Garbage, utter garbage," he cries, and in his view the nationalist leaders of his three ethnic groups in Bosnia are playing a "political game" at the expense of the population. I added that there is.
"People here deserve their elected politicians to be working, not just complaining. This is the key issue," he said Mr Schmidt. increase.
"I don't think everyone in this country is all about finger-blaming. No, sit down and be constructive," he added.
The US-brokered Dayton Accords, which ended Bosnia's brutal inter-ethnic war of 1992-1995, have imposed laws and weakened the Bosnian state. It gave the High Representative a wide range of powers, including the dismissal of officials and civil servants. Fragile ethnic balance after the war.
In Bosnia, efforts to amend the country's constitution and voting laws have continued since the European Court of Human Rights in 2009 accused the country of barring ethnic minorities from running for top government offices. is being discussed. So far, no changes have been made.
A peace treaty established her two independent governing bodies within the country. One is run by Bosnian Serbs and the other is dominated by predominantly Muslim Bosnians and Croats.
The two bodies are linked by a joint body, and all actions taken at the national level must be achieved through the consensus of the three ethnic groups.
The Bosnian Constitution and its electoral law, which were part of the Dayton Accords, currently allow only members of the three main ethnic groups to run for election to either the joint president or the Senate of the Central Assembly. said to be qualified. parliament. A member of an ethnic minority that has existed in the country for centuries cannot run for these offices unless he identifies with one of the major groups.
Instead of changing the law and constitution, nationalist leaders of the country's major ethnic communities used the process to further foment ethnic divisions and demand special protection for ethnic groups. and accuse each other of trying to disenfranchise members of other groups.
—— Follow all AP coverage on Bosnia at
https://apnews.com/hub/bosnia-and-herzegovina
