At a meeting with a delegation from the Congress "Reflection Group on Mostar" held on 25 June in Sarajevo, Valentin INZKO, the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), underlined that it was crucial to get out of the deadlock in the city of Mostar where no elections have been held since 2008. "This undermines the confidence of citizens in the functioning of the institutions that govern them," he said.
"Solutions exist to amend the Electoral Law, but this will require a compromise between the different parties," Inzko added, welcoming the role of international institutions such as the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. He also underlined the importance of the negotiations held at the local level.
The visit of the delegation is part of the work of the Reflection Group with a view to contributing to a sustainable solution for the organisation of local elections in the city of Mostar. In this context, two Round Tables were held on 26 June 2018 in Mostar with representatives of major political parties represented in the City Council of Mostar and with representatives of the coalition of NGOs which organised the ‟Elect Mostar” initiative (unofficial vote) on 2 October 2016.
Members of the delegation:
- Mr Anders KNAPE (Congress, EPP/CCE, Sweden), President of the Chamber of Local Authorities of the Congress
- Mr Stewart DICKSON (Congress, ILDG, United Kingdom), Thematic Spokesperson on observation of local and regional elections, Rapporteur of the 2016 Election Observation Mission to BiH
- Mrs Barbara TOCE (Congress, SOC, Italy), Vice-President of the Congress
- Dr. Franz SCHAUSBERGER (EU), Member of the Commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs (CIVEX), Chair of the CoR's Working Group on Western Balkans
- Expert - Prof. Dr. jur. Jens WOELK; Associate Professor of Comparative Constitutional Law, member of the Congress Group of Independent Experts on the European Charter of Local Self‑Government
Photos: FLICKR
See also:
- Web page on the "Reflection Group on Mostar"
- Web page on the observation of local and regional elections
Contact:
Congress of Local and Regional Authorities
Renate ZIKMUND
Head of Division, Local and Regional Election Observation
Tel: +33 (0)6 59 78 64 55
renate.zikmund@coe.int