used without permission, for "fair use" only

Civilized Petritsch's Insult

by F.A.

Oslobodjanje, Sarajevo, Federation Bosnia-Hercegovina, B-H, July 19, 2000

A meeting of the Constitutional Committee of the Parliament of the Federation Bosnia-Hercegovina (FBH) was supposed to take place yesterday. The Committee was supposed to discuss whether the OSCE mandate to organize and run the forthcoming elections is constitutional. Out of 21 members, only 8 showed up for the meeting, so that it had to be canceled because of a lack of quorum.

Inaccurate Claims

Was the absence of the members of the Constitutional Committee caused by justified reasons or was it the result of pressures to which they were exposed both as a group and individuals by several international officials? For example, Higher Deputy OSCE Mission Chief Dieter Woltmann at the meeting of the Committee on July 3, 2000, when it was obvious that the Committee would come to the decision that the OSCE's electoral rules and regulations are unconstitutional stated: "I give you the harshest possible warning! Do not make hasty decisions." After that a new meeting of the Committee was scheduled and in the meantime the conditions for a blockade of its work have been prepared. As a dot on i came in a letter from the High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch, timed just one day before the scheduled date of the meeting.

Petritsch's letter makes several claims which, to say the least, are questionable from the point of view of the Constitution. Petritsch writes "in order to clarify several legal issues which are currently on the agenda of the Committee; first it is absolutely clear that the OSCE has the mandate to organize and conduct the elections that will be held later this year in BH," writes Petritsch although since 1996 the OSCE is both according to the Dayton and the Constitution not in charge of organizing elections in BH. Petritsch states that "the OSCE mandate is drawn directly from Annex 3 of the General Peace Agreement and is renewed every year by the decision of the Peace Implementation Council"; however the difference between "peace implementation" and extra-institutional re-tailoring of the BH Constitution and the Dayton Agreement is enormous.

The following Petritsch's claim is inaccurate: "Secondly, OSCE election rules are fully in agreement with the BH Constitution." Briefly stated, electoral rules violate the Constitution in several aspects: multi-member electoral districts, open lists, the number of representatives in cantonal parliaments; the term of office of representatives in parliaments at all levels of state organization, non-refundable deposits for the participation in elections etc. About all of that Oslobodjenje wrote in more detail on July 4, and none of the international officials and spokespeople has so far come out with any counter-arguments.

Third and fourth paragraphs of Petritsch's letter more resemble the manner from some past times than instructions that were supposed to contribute to the development of the democratic atmosphere in BH. Two Petritsch's sentences are especially interesting: "therefore, entity parliaments must fully comply with the rules of the Temporary Electoral Commission"; "Every attempt to undermine the authority of the OSCE will be treated by the Temporary Electoral Commission as an attempt to obstruct the Dayton Agreement". Note the exemplary autocratic literacy of the international community which does not recognize the right of parliaments, political parties, and perhaps even the public to their own opinion about aspects of the violation of the Dayton Agreement and BH Constitution by the OSCE. Let alone about the constitutional obligation of the parliaments to protect the Constitution.

Puppetization of BH Politics

Political subjects whose fate is decided by the OSCE are de facto blackmailed and forced to shut up in spite of obvious indications that the OSCE's rules and regulations violate the Constitution. The High Representative was unequivocal when he stated that any discussion of this issue would be considered as "an attempt to undermine the authority of the OSCE and the Temporary Electoral Commission and obstruction of the Dayton Agreement". The demand that parliaments "fully comply without an exception" to something with which they would not comply because their legal obligation and morality urge them to take a different stand is nothing but puppetization of the political life in BH. If that is the case, then it would make sense if the international community, besides the legal sphere, also took over the obligations and responsibility for post-Dayton processes in BH.

The last sentence from the Petritsch's letter is, having in mind everything that was said before it, a civilized insult of the dignity of the Constitutional Committee members. The High Representative says: "I hope that this information will assist you in finding an answer for the questions on your agenda."

Judging by the ultimatums set in the letter, the answers had already been found. But outside the Constitutional Committee and the Parliament of FBH.

Translated on September 12, 2000