Donor Co-Financing Assessment for New Country Strategy

Annex 1 - Political Assessment in the Context of Article 1 European Bank for Reconstruction and Development The elections broadly allow for competition between different political parties and free choice for voters. Candidates are able to campaign freely and without hindrance from the authorities. The Central Election Commission (CEC) is an independent permanent body appointed by a special Commission for Selection and Nomination. Municipal election commissions are permanent bodies appointed by the municipal authorities and approved by the CEC. The media provide voters with diverse and extensive coverage of the electoral campaign. The Electoral Code provides for domestic and international election observation at all levels of election administration. Specifics of the country's constitutional set up and remaining ethnic divisions lead to the political parties reaching out mostly to their own ethnic constituencies, although there are a few parties that pursue a more multi-ethnic approach. B&H has held regular democratic and competitive elections at both central and municipal levels since the end of the 1992-1995 war. In the past, elections had effectively been organised by the OSCE. The last four general elections (2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018) and municipal elections (2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020) were fully administered by the B&H authorities. The last general elections were assessed by the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission as administrated broadly efficiently, especially by the upper levels of the elections administration. The electoral campaign was "genuinely competitive" and freedoms of expression were respected. The elections went in relatively peaceful atmosphere, even if marred by the inflammatory rhetoric of some contestants. At the same time, ODIHR noted that most of its prior recommendations remains unaddressed, including on introducing effective provisions on the prevention of abuse of state resources, campaign finance and its oversight, and electoral dispute resolution.3 Separation of powers and effective checks and balances The constitutional and legislative framework for a parliamentary democracy, underpinned by the separation of powers and checks and balances in the political system, independent legislature and procedures of legislative oversight in prescribed domains of decision-making, is in place in B&H. The uniquely complex governance architecture of B&H stems from the provisions of the Dayton Peace Accords, and has an elaborate system of checks and balances. They were largely designed to protect the interests of the three 'constituent' peoples. In reality, they encourage political representatives to demonstrate their commitment to their entity and their ethnic constituency rather than to the State. The Constitution grants limited powers to the state-level institutions, while vesting most of them in two Entities: Federation of B&H (FB&H) and Republika Srpska (RS). Effective power to govern of elected officials B&H has established institutional, legal, and financial arrangements for elected officials to exercise their power to govern and they are not constrained by internal non-democratic veto powers or other undue influences. As in many other transition countries, there has long been a close relationship between business and political elites. However, this does not compromise the powers of elected officials to govern the country. The Dayton Accords established the Office of the High Representative (OHR) under the United Nations (UN) auspices. The High Representative (HR), who reports to the Peace Implementation Council (PIC), a group of 55 countries and international organisations that "sponsor and direct the peace implementation process", has the final authority on the ground to interpret the implementation of the Dayton Accords and can issue decisions that have legislative power. In 1997, PIC provided the HR with additional powers (the so-called Bonn powers) to remove any officials, 3 The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), General Elections of 7 October 2018, Election Observati on Mission, Final Report, 25 January 2019 PUBLIC 22

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