Reforma Doma Naroda Parlamentarne Skupštine BIH
Reforming the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Author(s): Florian Bieber
Subject(s): Constitutional Law, Governance
Published by: Analitika – Centar za društvena istraživanja, sva prava pridržana
Keywords: Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina;
Summary/Abstract: The new House of Peoples, ie the Senate, which would represent the upper house of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly and could equally consider the interests of constituent peoples, constituent territorial units and national minorities, would eliminate discrimination present in the current system and reduce the link between territory and ethnic identity. Such a reform would not be a cure for all the problems of the political system of Bosnia and Herzegovina, because it cannot remove the blockades that can make decision-making difficult. In constitutional engineering, one should be aware of its limitations: it cannot create political will where it does not exist and it cannot eliminate the divisions that characterize the political reality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The most that can be achieved by such a constitutional reform is to equalize the conditions for all so that the interests of only certain collectives are not important, and to provide mechanisms that will lead to disagreement over a particular law does not automatically lead to a blockade. Whether these funds will be used will depend on those in power: constitutional changes cannot create political will, but can only provide impetus.

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