European Forum

News update Bosnia and Herzegovina, 20 August - 3 September

In the run up to the elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the 3rd of October of this year, next to the newsflash, we will provide you with news from the country more frequently. This edition covers the period between 20 August and 3 September.

1) Election campaign to kick-off; low turnout BiH Diaspora
On 3 September the election campaign for the sixth post-war general elections, in which 39 parties, 11 coalitions and 13 independent candidates will participate, starts. Of the 9149 candidates (on all levels) 63.13 per cent are man, and 36.87 per cent women. 35,644 voters are registered from abroad. According to the Bosnian Ministry for Refugees and Human Rights, around 1,350,000 Bosnian citizens currently live abroad, which represents about a third of the total population. Source: Sarajevo-x.com

2) SNSD convinced of the absolute victory in the elections
On 2 September President of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) Milorad Dodik said his party will get more support from citizens in the upcoming election than showed in a study of the National Democratic Institute (NDI). “SNSD will get the support to secure an absolute majority in the Republika Srpska (RS) and I will get more than 65 per cent support of RS citizens” Dodik said. Source: Sarajevo-x.com

3) No prospects for young people in BiH
On 2 September it has been announced that frustrated by a lack of economic opportunities and an inability to shake up the political status quo, many young people are looking abroad. The difficult economic and political situation in BiH has forced many students and recent graduates to leave the country. According to the Youth Information Agency, nearly 100,000 young people have left the country since 2006. About 73% of youth left to seek a better life abroad. The full article can be red here. Source: SETimes

4) Last condition for visa liberalisation fulfilled
On 1 September BiH’s central parliament extended the mandate of the director of the State Agency for Prevention and Fight Against Corruption, fulfilling the last outstanding condition for visa liberalisation with the EU. Tanja Fajon, European Parliament (EP) rapporteur on visa liberalisation for the Western Balkans, said that the process of visa liberalisation for BiH and Albania could be accelerated if the report by European Commission experts on the countries’ progress is positive. Source: Nezavisne Novine and SETimes

5) BiH army in Afghanistan
On 1 September Bosnia’s central parliament has approved a decision by the country’s presidency to send an infantry unit to Afghanistan to join the NATO-led mission. The 45-man strong force is expected to deploy in October. Source: Oslobodjenje

6) Dodik hopes RS will split from BiH within the next four years
On 31 August Republika Srpska (RS) Prime Minister Milorad Dodik said he hopes RS will split from the rest of the country within the next four years. Dodik said the opinion of the International Court of Justice on Kosovo’s independence had created a precedent which can be used for RS secession from Bosnia, but that the region will “not rush” anything. Source: Dnevni Avaz

7) Lagumdžija expects SDP to get the most votes in BiH parliament
On 31 August leader of SDP, Zlatko Lagumdžija stated in an interview that he expects that SDP candidate Zeljko Komsic will be elected as member of the Presidency and will have more votes than any of the other candidates. Furthermore, SDP will come in first by the number of votes and the number of seats in the central Parliament of BiH, he said. In Republika Srpska it will not be possible to form a coalition without SDP as the party, according to Lagumdžija, will achieve its best result ever. The increase in support in RS has been shown in recent local elections in some municipalities, he said. Source: Website SDP

8) Opinion poll: BiH is going in the wrong direction
On 31 August it has been announced that nearly 90 per cent of BiH citizens does not believe that BiH is going in the right direction. According to a survey conducted by the international research agency Ipsos, the citizens are dissatisfied with the performance of government in reducing unemployment, crime and corruption. These are the most important issues the BiH authorities should deal with according to the survey. Source: Radio Slobodna Evropa

9) Ljubić: main aim is a Croatian federal entity
On 30 August, President of HDZ 1990 (Croatian Democratic Union 1990) Božo Ljubić said that the main aim of the coalition HDZ 1990 and HSP BiH is to achieve constitutional reform which will guarantee equal rights of Croatians in BiH. This means, according to Ljubić, that a Croatian federal entity should be established with a Croatian majority. “We do not accept that the Dayton entities are fixed categories. They are changing, and should change if the BIH wants to survive as a country. He added that the principle of territorialisation is an essential principle of equality and institutional will on the state level to guarantee equality for all people and the territorial units. HDZ 1990. Source: Sarajevo-x.com

10) German FM: BiH must focus on reform for EU
On 27 August German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said that “Bosnia and Herzegovina has a clear European perspective, but the road to Europe leads through internal dialogue and the unity of the country.” Furthermore, during his visit to Sarajevo Westerwelle said Germany expected all political actors in BiH to “start working on constitutional reform with courage, energy and good will” immediately after October 3 general elections in the country. Milorad Dodik, the Prime Minister Republika Srpska, had been invited to meet Westerwelle in Sarajevo, but he failed to join a working dinner. Dodik’s office did not provide any explanation for his absence. Source: BIRN and Oslobodjenje

11) 87 per cent of Roma will vote on 3 October
On 27 August it has been announced that despite the fact that political parties are still not offering anything concrete to the Roma population, 87 per cent of Roma who have valid documents will vote in general elections on 3rd October. Citizens Association “Be my friend” along with the Association of Roma “Euro Roma” launched a campaign tour visiting Roma communities in BiH. During the visit the Roma community will be informed about the political parties in BiH and their lack of concern for the Roma issues. The adopted action plans for solving the problems of Roma in the field of housing, health care and employment have not been implemented. Source: Sarajevo-x.com

12) NDI organises television debates and forums
On 26 August National Democratic Institute (NDI) announced its program “Elections 2010: TV debates and forums.” The events will take place in September and aim to make the BiH citizens possible to hear about the pressing issues of BiH society and the solutions to their existential problems directly from the candidates of political parties. The program will include eight regional election forums to be held throughout the country, and three live broadcasted public debates. The coordinator of the programme Donald Prohaska said that opinion polls shows that BiH citizens want to hear solutions from the politicians for to many challenges the country is facing. Unemployment and crime and corruption are rated as the greatest challenges to BiH society. All relevant political parties have agreed to participate in the programme. Source: Sarajevo-x.com

13) SDP presents its slogan, web portal and budget for the elections
On 20 August Social Democratic Party of BiH (SDP BiH) presented its slogan, web portal and the financial plan for the elections. The main slogan for the elections will be “Država za Čovjeka”(The state for the People). The newly launched web portal (www.sdp.ba) is according to Head of Public Relations Damir Mašić a very modern one, connected to all social networks, on which all activities of SDP will be announced. Marin Ivanišević, Coordinator of Finance, said that the election budgets of this political party is 1,343,750 KM, (approximately 650,000 Euro) of which 412,000 KM are funds from membership fees and funds from savings of 370,000, while the rest will be collected from supporters. The largest part of the budget will be used for advertising in the media - 662 500 KM, and for the advertising material and its printing. Source: Website SDP