Bosnia Envoy Amends Constitution To Push Government Formation

Bosnia's international envoy amended the constitution on an interim basis on Thursday to help form a regional government after a prolonged deadlock, and gave its parliament one year to draft their own version of his constitutional amendments.

The Bosniak-Croat Federation, an autonomous region, has been unable to form government since an election last October because the largest Bosniak party, the SDA, has blocked any proposals that do not include its ministers.

Former German politician Christian Schmidt, who has vast powers as international High Representative in post-war Bosnia, amended the constitution so that only two out of three Federation presidency members need to support a proposed government to forward it to parliament, thus cutting out presidency member from SDA.

"We have to state what we witness is a political stalemate, not a struggle between constituent peoples," Schmidt told a news conference.

Schmidt, who has powers to change laws and sack officials seen as obstructing Bosnia's peace deal, was much criticised for changing the election law on election night last October, which was also aimed to remove blockades of the Federation government formation.

Many politicians and analysts said he had violated democratic process.

SDA and its allies lashed at Schmidt's decision, calling it a "scandalous suspension of the Federation constitution".

Following its devastating war in the 1990s in which about 100,000 people died, Bosnia was split into two ethnically based autonomous regions, the Bosniak-Croat Federation and the Serb Republic, linked by a weak central government.

While governments at state level and in the Serb Republic were quickly formed after the October election, SDA has blocked the Federation government after a new ruling coalition was formed from a number of Bosniak, Croat and multi-ethnic parties who did not want SDA.

The Federation is presided by a Croat, with Bosniak and Serb vice-presidents, who before the amendment all needed to support a proposed government.

Schmidt said he acted because the constitution did not solve such situations, adding that his decision will become effective unless the parliament amends the constitution to prevent future deadlocks in forming the Federation government within one year.

Similar political bickering prevented a Federation government from forming after a 2018 election.

Bosnia, marred by frequent ethnically based political fights and endemic corruption, has been experiencing political turmoil over the past years, with governments often blocked both at state and regional levels.