Bosnia's high representative urges politicians to form government

BELGRADE, Serbia

Bosnia and Herzegovina's high representative on Friday urged politicians to form a government for the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), one of country’s two entities, along with the Republika Srpska.

At an extraordinary press conference in the capital Sarajevo, Christian Schmidt – who is responsible for overseeing implementation of the 1995 pact which ended the Bosnian war – urged politicians to end the impasse in the Bosniak-Croat region, adding that this is his final call for an agreement as political actors have obligations to the citizens.

"The election results (last November) cannot be fully implemented even though the support of the majority in both houses of the parliament exists for the vote in favor of the government formation. I will remind all political actors of their responsibility to enable government institutions to do their job," said Schmidt.

According to Schmidt, the FBiH is in a political deadlock and split between political blocs.

"Maximalist demands, intimidation tactics, and non-acceptance of political reality will not help the FBiH move forward," said Schmidt.

"There will be no additional final calls," he added.

The coalition formed by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the Eight Alliance in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina needs the approval of Refik Lendo, vice president of the entity from the Democratic Action Party (SDA), to form the entity's government.

But Lendo does not want to approve a governing coalition that does not include his party, the SDA, which won the most votes in the elections.

The FBiH Constitution stipulates that the government proposed by its president must be approved by the two vice presidents before the government can be formed.

In order to overcome the government crisis, the SDA could relent and Lendo give approval to the current government, or there could be a coalition with the SDA, in which case the HDZ would have to back down, or High Representative Schmidt would have to amend the Constitution, using his so-called “Bonn powers.”

Bosnians are furious about what they call Schmidt’s interference.

Last week hundreds of demonstrators protested Schmidt and demanded officials respect the county’s independence, territorial integrity, democracy, and human rights.

The angry crowd chanted for Schmidt to resign and go back to his native Germany.

High representative's controversial laws

Schmidt announced on the night of the Oct. 2 general elections that he had enacted controversial reforms to the election laws

After polls closed in the presidential and parliamentary election, Schmidt said he had signed two decisions for the functionality and timely implementation of election results in a document he called the "functionality package," stating that they were related to the government and coalition-building processes.

The decision was fiercely criticized by both politicians and the public.

The Office of the High Representative was established in the Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia Herzegovina. The office oversees the implementation of the peace agreement on behalf of the international community

ACThat person has the authority to dismiss anyone who interferes with the implementation of peace in the country, including members of the Presidential Council, and to pass laws as necessary.
The powers are dubbed "Bonn powers."