Outlook Uncertain for Bosnia Parliament Session

Months after the last general election, a constituent session of the House of Representatives of the Bosnian parliament has been announced at the initiative of a Bosnian Serb opposition party, the Serbian Democratic Party, SDS.

General elections in Bosnia were held on October 3, 2010, but no State Government has yet been formed.

While the session is to take place on Friday, few expect it to result in the formation of a long-delayed State Government for the troubled Balkan state.

The session was scheduled by a temporary chairman of the House of Representatives, Adnan Basic, who admitted that he doubted a parliamentary majority could be obtained for the session to do business.

But he said he had to schedule a continuation of the constitutive session - the last one was held last November - because too much time had passed since the last session.

“As a temporary chairman, I didn't want to be held responsible for the... inaction of the State Parliament,” Basic explained.

Although the session has been convoked for Friday, a majority of deputies among the parties could vote to postpone the session once again.

Dusanka Majkic, delegate from the strongest party in the Bosnian Serb entity, the Republika Srpska, The Alliance of the Independent Social Democrats, SNSD, said holding a session of the State Parliament had no point until it was known which parties would form the State Government.

Members of two strongest Bosnian Croat parties, Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, and HDZ 1990, have also suggested that they may boycott the session, though this information was not officially confirmed. An HDZ 1990 spokesmen, Veso Vegar, said his party would decide the matter on Thursday.

The Serbian Democratic Party, SDS, which proposed the session, argued that the session should be held, despite the lack of a parliamentary majority, because delegates of the State Parliament had an obligation to meet.

“We hoped to move the things forward,  and we are ready for the formation of a State Government,” Aleksandra Pandurevic, of the SDS, told Balkan Insight.

“I hope the representatives of both HDZs will attend the session. It is their interest, but also their obligation, since that is the job they were elected to do,” Pandurevic added.

The mainly Bosniak Party for Democratic Action, SDA, and Social Democratic party, SDP, which is multi-ethnic but mainly Bosniak, have supported the initiative to form the State Parliament.

If enough deputies attend the session on Friday, they will elect a leadership for the parliament's House of Representatives as well as the Commission to elect a Council of Ministers.