The Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CEC BiH), at today’s 39th session, adopted a decision to revoke the mandate of the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, after the final verdict of the Court of BiH was confirmed.
This decision was adopted unanimously.
The CEC had previously formally requested the verdict from the Court of BiH, because without an official document, it cannot validly initiate the procedure for revoking a mandate. After receiving the verdict, the Commission has a legal deadline of a maximum of 15 days to act, while the deadlines for early elections are prescribed up to 90 days from the termination of the mandate.
Vehid Šehić, a former member of the CEC, confirmed that the procedure was initiated immediately upon the confirmation of the verdict and emphasized that if Dodik is nominated on an election list, it will not be allowed, and the CEC BiH will reject it.
Vehid Šehić warned that, even if Dodik refuses to accept the decision and implement the requests of the Court of BiH, he could be detained for disrespecting the legal consequences of the verdict.
Given that Dodik had hinted on several occasions that he would not step down from the position of president of the RS despite the final verdict, and he confirmed this with a cryptic message on the X network in which he wrote an hour before the CEC’s decision.
What happens now?
-The CEC must make a decision on the termination of the mandate within the legal deadline;
-After that, early elections for the president of the RS will be called, which must be held within a maximum of 90 days;
-Dodik will no longer have the right to run for any political office until the expiration of the six-year ban.
Today’s decision of the CEC marks the beginning of the official implementation of the final verdict of the Court of BiH, which sentenced Milorad Dodik to one year in prison and a six-year ban on political engagement. The electoral and legal mechanisms have been initiated in accordance with the Election Law of BiH, and it is expected that the CEC will officially terminate his mandate within the next few days and organize early elections in the RS.
Let’s remember, Dodik was finally sentenced to one year in prison, and a security measure of a six-year ban on performing the duty of the president of Republika Srpska was imposed on him. But, Dodik can no longer perform any legal function.
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Source: N1; Photo: Reuters