Home > 4.5 Local elections > BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA- Joint Opinion on amendments to the Election Law
 
 
 
Download file    
 
 
Paragraph 23
 

An amendment introduced by the Constitution and Legal Affairs Commission of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Amendment VII) changes the rules for mandate allocation in cantonal assemblies and municipal assemblies/councils. This amendment revises Article 13.5 of the existing law. This amendment provides that, in cases not regulated by city statutes or specific provisions of the Election Law, distribution of mandates must ensure that at least one mandate is allocated to a “representative of each constituent people which, according to the last census in BiH, represents more than 3% of the total population of the city”. This provision is similar to mandate allocation rules for the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Article 10.8A), National Assembly of the Republika Srpska (Article 11.8A), and the City Council of Mostar (Articles 19.5 and 19.6), as it ensures at least one mandate for each constituent people that constitutes at least 3% of the city population. However, the text of this amendment is not as detailed as the text of the existing articles specifying similar allocation rules. It is recommended that Article 13.5 be further amended to provide greater detail for each step of the allocation process. Although the intent and goal of the article is apparent, the allocations procedures could be stated with greater detail and specificity[12].