In-fighting Delays Formation of Bosnia Govts

After numerous procedural difficulties, Bosnia's Central Election Commission, CIK, has finalized the appointment of delegates to the House of Peoples, one of two chambers of parliament in the Federation entity, commission officials told Balkan Insight.

Final certification is expected on Thursday after the CIK reviews the appeals it received on Wednesday afternoon.

The assembly of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzgovina has already scheduled its session for Thursday, to move on with the process of formation of a new entity government.

According to the Federation entity constitution, the assembly should now nominate an entity president and two vice presidents who then appoint the premier-designate.

Election officials have been complaining that since the October 2014 elections, the formation of governments across Bosnia's numerous administrative levels has been held up by infighting and procedural problems.

Bosnia's other entity, the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska, formed its government in December 2014.

The biggest problem, as in the past, in in the Federation.

Since the elections, cantonal assemblies in the Federation have chosen speakers and proposed lists of delegates for the Federation assembly.

At the same time, they have negotiated the formation of new cantonal governments. But, out of the ten cantons, only one, Gorazde, has got a new government so far.

In addition to complex negotiations about formation of ruling coalitions at different levels, the Federation faces the problem of not having enough Serbian deputies from all ten cantons to properly constitute the House of Peoples.

By law, the House of Peoples has to have 17 Bosniak, Croat and Serb deputies, as well as seven...