Bosnia Needs Real Electoral Reform, Not More Segregation

The Sejdic-Finci decision, which concerns the inability of Bosnian citizens who are not part of the constitutive triad (i.e. Bosniaks, Serbs, or Croats) to be elected to the sate presidency, has remained unimplemented for more than a decade - during which time two general elections have taken place in Bosnia.

Given that, it is unclear why anyone would conclude that the Ljubic decision specifically can prevent the next polls from taking place.

The only way that election could be jeopardized is if a party like the HDZ BiH attempted to hold hostage the necessary funds for the conduct of these polls. The party already once attempted that, but failed to meaningfully delay the 2020 municipal elections. Such a maneuver, in any case, is an act of political blackmail rather than a legal fact.

Party loyalists paste an election poster for the Croatian Democratic Union party in Sarajevo. Photo: EPA/FEHIM DEMIR

The bigger issue, though, is the chronic disinformation that has characterized the HDZ BiH's attempts to see the Ljubic decision implemented - and only the Ljubic decision.

Taken together, the sum of the relevant judicial decisions concerning Bosnia election laws suggests that the country's existing sectarian constitutional regime is systematically discriminatory and incompatible with modern European democratic standards.

As such, the country's leaders must move towards bringing Bosnia's constitutional regime in line with those of the EU countries. Namely, a broadly liberal-democratic framework rooted in equal rights for all citizens, but accompanied also by protections for all relevant ethnic, religious, or linguistic groups within this polity.

A relevant regional example might be Montenegro's constitution. Article...