Bosnia’s Election Commission Borrows Money to Hold Polls

Bosnian people wait in line to vote for the country's general elections in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 12 October 2014. Photo: EPA/FEHIM DEMIR

Bosnian people wait in line to vote for the country's general elections in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 12 October 2014. Photo: EPA/FEHIM DEMIR

Over a month after the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina announced that a general election will be held in October, it announced on Monday that it has managed to borrow the money needed for the process.

Bosnia and Herzegovina's election law says that state institutions must provide funds to hold elections within 15 days of the polls being announced, but that deadline passed on May 19.

The country's Council of Ministers has now voted to borrow 9.7 million Bosnian marks (around five million euros) from the country's Regulatory Agency on Communications and transfer that money to the Central Election Commission.

"Today, the Council of Ministers unanimously adopted a decision on the use of part of the funds from the licences for the use of radio frequency spectrum services through mobile access systems, and these funds are intended for the CEC to finance the general elections," Bosnia's Finance Minister Vjekoslav Bevanda told media.

A question remains however about how the Commission will get the remaining money that will be needed to organise the general election.

The Council of Ministers was initially asked for an allocation of 12.5 million Bosnian marks (around 6.5 million euros) to fund the 2022 elections, but the decision was blocked by Bevanda, who represents the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ party.

He justified the decision by saying that a special allocation of funds "is not in line with law and the budget needs to be voted on in a regular procedure" - which would take much longer and call into question whether the elections could be held on time...

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