All BiH citizens must be equal!

Coalition against constitutional discrimination “Jednakost” warned all political parties part of the parliamentary majority and representatives of the EU in BiH, that the implementation of verdict by the European court for Human Rights in the Sejdić-Finci ruling must be such that all citizens of BiH are equal in all rights. The Coalition also stated that the European future of BiH is in the hands of the six ruling political parties and calls on them to implement the Sejdić-Finci ruling as soon as possible respecting democratic norms and human rights.

After reviewing proposals for implementing the ruling in the past few months, it is apparent that proposed solutions are in contradiction with the spirit of the ruling and basic democratic norms, therefore the Coalition “Jednakost” would like to remind the public what are the minimum and principles that any solution must require.

Coalition “Jednakost” insists on respecting the following basic principles in proposing reforms for implementing the Sejdić-Finci ruling:

1. Any solution must not include any inequality for citizens of BiH in terms of the value of their vote. Inequalities based on ethnicity or territorial principles is completely unacceptable and Coalition for “Jednakost” as well as for the citizens of BiH. In terms of the mentioned electorate model of electing members of the BiH Presidency, it is vital to ensure equal value of votes for every BiH citizen.

2. Solution must not contain any asymmetrical model in terms of electing individuals to institutions of government. Asymmetric solution would create additional inequalities of citizens in terms of value and legitimacy of their vote, especially in the case of electing the members of BiH Presidency.

3. Solution must not treat any other issue except resolving the issues treated by the Sejdić-Finci ruling, especially not by introducing additional forms of discrimination. All other solutions would make reform more difficult and would create added possibilities of manipulation of the process which is supposed to resolve discrimination of citizens which do not identify themselves as members of the constitutive peoples.

4. The solution must contain principles of full equality of “others” with representatives of constituent peoples, including the decision making process in both institutions treated by the Sejdić-Finci ruling. In case the solution for reform retains a ethnic concept of forming institutions, it is necessary to completely equal the number and powers of members and institutions which represent “others” with those that represent constituent peoples.

With this in mind, Coalition “Jednakost” once again wishes to warn representatives of political parties in government to guide themselves by democratic principles in creating a solution, and representatives of the international community that their role in facilitating a solution must be in accordance with democratic principles of their own states. Removing discrimination and fostering equality of rights of all citizens must not be subject to compromise and any political party and their representatives which support a solution that would undermine these principles will be punished by the citizens on election day.