ODDITIES OF ELECTION LAW MEAN SEATS COULD GO TO DELEGATES WHO WILL NOT BE PAID

SARAJEVO, NOVEMBER 9 /SRNA/ – Džemal Smajić /SBiH/, Dženan Đonlagić /DF/, Ilija Cvitanović /HDZ 1990/ and Želimir Nešković /SDS/ have resigned from the House of Peoples after being elected to the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, and their seats should go to the candidates who came second on their lists in the elections four years ago, but those candidates will not take the oath, receive a salary or have any of the other benefits enjoyed by serving delegates.

Based on the results of the 2024 elections, Smajić will be replaced by Mirnes Gušić, Đonlagić by Mensura Beganović, Cvitanović by Ivan Vukadin and Nešković by Tamara Evđić.

The situation is even more complicated because Gušić and Vukadin won seats in the assemblies of Tuzla Canton and Canton 10 in the October 4 general elections.

If they accept those seats, the BiH Election Law says the House of Peoples seat should go to the next person on the list. In Cvitanović's case, that is Željko Josić.

A further complication is that the list from which Smajić was elected had only two names. If Gušić takes his seat in the Tuzla Canton Assembly, there would be a situation for which there is no solution.

With no further name on the list, the BiH Central Election Commission would have to decide whether the Federation House of Peoples, whose term is about to expire, would need to hold an extraordinary session to elect a delegate, or whether a name could be taken from another list.

The replacement delegates are unlikely to actually serve in the current House of Peoples, because the replacements are appointed automatically rather than out of real need.