Observation of elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina (12 – 13 September 1998)
Doc. 8216
2 October 1998
Report
Ad Hoc Committee of the Bureau
Rapporteur: Mrs Hanne Severinsen, Denmark, Liberal, Democratic and Reformers' Group
Introduction
1. At the invitation of the President of the Chamber of the Peoples of the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an Ad Hoc Committee of the Bureau was set up to observe the general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina (12-13 September 1998). The Assembly observers carried out their mission in close co-operation with the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), which was responsible for the organisation of the elections.
2. Delegations of the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE also observed the elections.
3. The Ad Hoc Committee of the Bureau was made up of:
Mme Hanne Severinsen, Chairperson LRD Denmark
Jonuz Begaj SOC Albania
Jan Dirk Blaauw LDR Netherlands
Andreas Gross SOC Switzerland
Ivan Ivanov EPP Bulgaria
René van der Linden EPP Netherlands
Atilla Mutman SOC Turkey
Vera Squarcialupi SOC Italy
Eisso Woltjer SOC Netherlands
Süha Tanik EDG Turkey
Mehmet Silay EDG Turkey
Soeren Soendergaard UEL Denmark
Peter Bloetzer, rapporteur on the accession EPP Switzerland
Hanneke Gelderblom-Lankhout, rapporteur on the accession LDR Netherlands
The secretariat was made up of:
Danielle Coin, Secretary of the ad hoc Committee
Markus Adelsbach, Co-secretary of the ad hoc Committee
Christine Willkomm, Assistant of the ad hoc Committee
Denise Slavik, Press Attachée4. In addition to observing the elections, the two rapporteurs for an opinion on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s request for accession to the Council of Europe, Mr Bloetzer for the Political Affairs Committee and Mrs Gelderblom-Lankhout for the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, had meetings with a number of personalities. The list of the people they met appears in Appendix 1.
Observation of the election
5. The Ad Hoc Committee met on Thursday 10 September 1998, before the briefing organised by the ODIHR for international observers. I was elected Chair of the delegation. It was also agreed that I should at the same time assume the function of rapporteur.
6. After the briefing organised by the OSCE/ODIHR, the members of the delegation dispersed throughout the territory of BiH. Thus, on 12 and 13 September, the Council of Europe delegation visited 222 polling stations situated all over the country, in Sarajevo and also in such places as Mostar, Pale, Banja Luka, Celinac, Prijedor, Tuzla, Brcko, Zenica, Vogosca, Visiko, Vitez and Travnik.
7. Groups of two observers were formed, either formed entirely of members of the Committee, or mixed, integrating another short-term observer from another organisation. The European Parliament did not participate in the deployment programme established by the ODIHR.
Description of the election
8. The institutions to be elected were as follows:
At national level:
Collegial Presidency (Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian) of BiH, i.e. two presidents for the Federation and one for Republika Srpska, for a term of four years.
House of Representatives, for a term of two years.
At the level of the entities:
Republika Srpska (RS):
President and Vice President of RS, for a term of two years.
National Assembly of RS, for a term of two years.
Federation:
House of Representatives of the Federation for a term of two years.
Cantonal Assemblies of the Federation for a term of two years.
At local level (Federation only):
Municipal Councillors for 11 municipalities
9. In the case of the elections for the Federal Presidency, and the President and Vice-President of Republika Srpska, the voting was by simple majority, while the national, entity and cantonal assemblies were elected by proportional representation.
The climate before the elections
10. 83 parties were registered, including 55 political parties, 10 coalitions and 10 independent candidates. 6.000 people registered as candidates at the beginning of the electoral period, but 400 of them were automatically disqualified by the OSCE which had established the criteria for eligibility.
11. Some alliances stood for election only in one entity, either in the Federation, or in RS. It should be noted that the parties had to present at least three women for every ten candidates or risk exclusion from the elections (2% of women in 1996, 10% estimated for 1998). Furthermore, candidates had to ensure that their electoral platform covered such questions as the return of refugees, the rights of minorities, economic reconstruction and development, and education and social services. The Provisional Electoral Commission (PEC) was placed under the responsibility of Ambassador Barry, Head of the OSCE mission in BiH.
12. Some days before the elections only a few cases of intimidation of candidates had been noted, leading to the deletion of certain candidates from the electoral lists presented. Some problems connected with the partiality of the media in the election campaign were also reported and resolved before the elections.
13. The number of voters communicated was 1,995,311 resident voters, to which should be added 447,928 displaced persons still present on the territory of BiH, 77,986 present on the territory of the FRY and 77.508 on the territory of Croatia, as well as 151.972 votes by correspondence, giving a total of 2.750.705 voters.
14. 2.270 polling stations were set up in the country, and a further 135 in Croatia and the FRY. There were three types of polling station in BiH:
"Regular" polling stations for electors voting in their place of residence or those who had returned to where they lived in 1991/92 to vote.
"Absentee" polling stations for electors voting in their present place of residence but for candidates in their place of origin (some 450,000 refugees and displaced persons).
Twinned polling stations which combined the above two categories.
15. To observe the elections there were 2,500 international "supervisors" and as many local interpreters deployed throughout the country. There was at least one supervisor per polling station, his mission being to assist the local people in charge of the polling stations and to see that the voting procedures were properly complied with.
16. Some 250 international observers visited the different polling stations, in teams of two.
17. The cost of organising these elections was estimated at $US 35 million. 10,000 people participated in the overall process. Thus, the amount of money is really enormous and one can ask oneself whether such an amount could not have been used in a better way.
18. The polling stations were open on Saturday 12 September from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on Sunday 13 September from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
19. After the last national and cantonal elections held on 14 September 1996, the municipal elections in September 1997 and the parliamentary elections in Republika Srpska in November 1997, the 1998 elections were intended to help reduce the political tensions and the level of support for the hard line nationalists, though there were not too many illusions about the possibility of reducing the ethnic divisions from which the country still suffers.
20. It was thought that the presence of some new political actors and movements, and the alliances and coalitions that have formed since 1996, represented a certain renewal, though too weak to have an impact on Bosnia’s political future. The fear was expressed that parties based on an ethnic policy would continue to represent only the interests of their specific ethic group and not create a "Bosnian climate". There are faint signs of integration, though they are not the result of a national consensus or consultation of the people: the new flag, the new currency (marks convertible 1:1 with the DEM) and new vehicle registration plates identical for the whole of the country, are measures introduced by the High Representative.
21. It should be noted that the political climate before the elections was marked by an increase in coalitions (for example Koalicia, SLOGA), by a slight increase in the forces opposing the established parties, a weakening of the monopolisation of the media by the authorities and growing political awareness on the part of the electors.
22. Some 550 candidates were not accepted either because they had been dismissed from their functions by the High Representative for having acted contrary to the Peace Process or because their parties did not comply with the regulations or else following interventions on television which tried to intimidate other candidates.
Rapporteur’s conclusions
23. The Ad Hoc Committee met on Monday 14, September 1998, before the ODIHR "debriefing", with all the members present, to evaluate the results of its observations.
24. The members considered that the atmosphere was good on the whole and they had no serious incidents to report, which was an improvement as compared with the earlier elections of 1996 and 1997.
25. They considered that the people manning most of the polling stations were competent and professional. The presence of international supervisors was also considered very useful, even though there were differences of opinion. However, their role was unclear for the local observers who might have had the impression that these elections were not their elections.
26. Apart from the family vote, seen above all in rural areas, all of the observers had witnessed problems caused by the absence of the electoral rolls in a great many polling stations when they opened. In certain polling stations it had not been possible to vote until late in the morning or even in the afternoon, and in some cases it was not even possible to vote at all on the first day. This was all the more deplorable in that these were mainly polling stations for refugees, who had made considerable efforts to be able to vote. Furthermore, the same problems had already arisen in these same polling stations in the 1996 and 1997 elections. It should also be noted that many people were no longer on the electoral rolls of their constituencies even though they had not changed their addresses in the past two years. Some people claimed that although they had registered several times they still did not appear on the lists and for some the polling station to which they belonged had been changed since the previous elections. In some polling stations there were too many voters in comparison with others. The ODIHR accordingly changed the voters from one polling station to another until the last minute which caused great confusion. It was claimed that this was a computer problem. This does not give a good impression of the efficiency of the preparation of the elections.
27. A second very serious problem was that of "tendered ballots" which can be considered as a facility permitting people whose voter registration card did not have the same details as the electoral roll to nevertheless vote, or again, permitting any person not appearing on the electoral roll of his constituency to vote. For this it was necessary to place the ballot paper in a sealed envelope, adding all the personal details required for voting, and place it in the ballot box with the other ballot papers. All the "tendered ballots" were subsequently to be centralised in two counting stations where, after having checked that the voter was entitled to vote, the envelope was separated from its content. The number of such ballot papers was far from negligible, accounting for as much as 40% of the papers in certain polling stations. It can be estimated at 15% of the total votes cast. Because of the great number of "tendered" ballots and of the ballots from abroad, and in order to check that there was no double voting, ten days after the elections took place, the results are still unknown. Should the use of "tendered" ballots be necessary in the future, one should advice the organisers once again to provide two envelopes in order to ensure anonymity of the vote.
28. It is important to stress in this context that distrust and the fear of lack of anonymity led many electors not to resort to this method of voting. At the ODIHR debriefing, it was expressly requested by the observers that particular attention should be paid to the treatment of these ballot papers.
29. Another regrettable factor was the much greater number of voters in the polling stations for refugees than in the others. Even though there were measures intended to facilitate the vote for refugees, the large numbers nonetheless resulted in long queues, and the situation was aggravated on the one hand by the absence of the electoral rolls when the polling stations opened and on the other by the shortage of polling booths. The majority of the polling stations, whatever their size or the number of electors, had only two booths. On top of the already mentioned factors contributing to long waits came the complexity of the ballot papers themselves (it must not be forgotten that people had to vote for at least four different candidates, the ballot paper being subsequently split into four for counting the votes) and the fact that a fairly large number of the electors were illiterate (up to 70% in the remote rural areas visited by members of the delegation) and required help from a member of their family or one of the polling station staff. It was not easy to read and to fill in the ballot paper. This resulted in a substantial number of invalid votes, estimated, at least, at 10% of the total. Those ballots are not the expression of a vote but the consequence of the difficulty to understand the ballot and to use it.
30. Tribute should be paid to the patience and calmness demonstrated by the electors in spite of all these problems.
31. Lastly, mention should be made of the people who were unable to go to a polling station for health reasons. Proxy voting was not authorised, but in certain places ballot boxes were taken into hospital a few days before the election (no specific monitoring of how this voting proceeded was organised by the ODIHR). In other places no such provision was made. Lastly, it was impossible for people with handicaps to access a good many polling stations because they were located in basements or on the first floor or even the third floor without anything to facilitate access. In these cases the ballot box was moved to permit these people to vote. This implied that someone had to accompany them and ask for the ballot box.
32. A certain lack of mutual confidence was nevertheless noted by members of the delegation, among the young accompanying staff (drivers, interpreters employed by the ODIHR) who were in some cases reluctant to cross the lines between the entities, ethnic security remaining a key factor in these elections. Even though most of the young people we met claimed to be "not interested in politics" the true views of many are expressed through "voting with their feet" and leaving the country (over 500,000 already by the end of 1997, according to the HCR).
33. The present electoral law resulted in a reinforcement of parties founded on an ethnic basis and prevented voters from voting across the boarders between the entities. Accordingly, the adoption of a new electoral law is a matter of great urgency and no other elections should take place before such a law is adopted.
Declarations
34. I contributed to the drafting of the joint declaration made by the OSCE/ODIHR and the delegations of our Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE and European Parliament, published on Monday 14 September. As Head of the Parliamentary Assembly delegation I participated in the joint press conference with the ODIHR and Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE. The European Parliament held a separate press conference before the joint conference and disseminated its own press release.
35. The OSCE/ODIHR held several press conferences declaring that the elections went very well and that only minor technical problems occurred, before those who observed the elections had the opportunity to make the result of the observation known. The Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE should be thanked for its good co-operation.
36. The text of the joint declaration appears in Appendix 2 to this document. The text of the declaration that I made and which was disseminated the following day in Strasbourg appears in Appendix 3.
37. The final results of the elections will not be published until about ten days after the end of the elections.
Appendix 1
List of personalities met by the rapporteurs on the accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Council of Europe
In addition to observing the elections, the two rapporteurs for an opinion on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s request for accession to the Council of Europe, Mr Bloetzer for the Political Affairs Committee and Mrs Gelderblom-Lankhout for the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, had meetings with the followings people:
Ambassador Robert Barry, Head of the OSCE Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mrs Elisabeth Rasmusson, Deputy Head of Mission for Democratisation
Mr Jadranko Prlic, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mrs Lynn Hastings, Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission for Human Rights
Mr Johan van Lamoen, Deputy High Representative for Legal Affairs
Mrs Elisabeth Rehn, Head of the United Nations Mission, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General
Mr Dragan Bozanic, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
Ambassador Nedzad Hadzimusic, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Mr Edhem Bicakcic, Acting Chair of the Special Guest delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly, Prime Minister of the Federation of BiH
Mrs Mediha Filipovic, member of the Special Guest delegation
Ambassador Carlos Westendorp, High Representative
Mrs Peggy Hicks and Mr Ian Martin, Deputy High Representatives for Human Rights.The part of the delegation that visited Republika Srpska, had a meeting with Mr Ðorde Umicevic, Mayor of Banja Luka.
A summary of these talks will be presented in a separate document.
Appendix 2
Joint preliminary statement - Bosnia and Herzegovina Elections 1998
OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly
European Parliament
OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR)
Appendix 3
Press Release
Elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Another step towards accession
STRASBOURG, 14.09.98 – The general elections held in Bosnia and Herzegovina on 12 and 13 September 1998 are an important milestone on the way to the accession of this country to the COUNCIL OF EUROPE, declared today Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Head of observers delegation, Hanne SEVERINSEN (Denmark, LDR).
Organised in the two entities of the Federation, the elections were conducted in a more constructive political environment than in the previous years she said. Nevertheless, serious problems emerged during the elections when it became apparent that a sizeable number of final voters registers accross the country were either incomplete, inaccurate or had not been delivered at all. Some voters, amongst which a majority of displaced people voting by tendered ballots according to special rules, have therefore been compelled to postpone to the next day their participation in the ballot. Others decided to wait patiently for several hours until the arrival of the registers. The counting of the tendered ballots will have to be critically scrutinized said Mrs Severinsen.
The Head of the Parliamentary delegation stressed that the media coverage was notably more balanced than in previous years thanks to specific help granted to small political parties. Nevertheless, a number of serious incidents did occur largely as a result of bitter rivalry between some parties she said. The challenge for the next year is in particular to establish a permanent election law and a permanent election commission she added.
The 14 member delegation (*) visited 222 polling stations in Sarajevo, Mostar, Pale, Banja Luka, Tuzla, Zenica, Vogosca, Visiko, Vitez, Travnik and Brcko.
During their stay in Sarajevo, Council of Europe parliamentarians, in particular the two rapporteurs in charge of the preparation of an opinion on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s request for accession, had talks with Foreign Minister Jadranko PRLIC, Head of UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina Elisabeth REHN, Head of OSCE Mission in BiH Robert BARRY, and acting Chair of Special Guest delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly Edhem BICAKCIC as well as with High Representative Ambassador Carlos WESTENDORP.
Without setting a timetable for the accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Council of Europe, it was agreed to specify the conditions to be fulfilled by the State authorities so as to achieve progress in the accession process.
The report on the observation of elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be discussed during the next session of the Parliamentary Assembly (21-25 September 1998), in Strasbourg.
(*) Jonuz Begaj (Albania, SOC), Ivan Ivanov (Bulgaria, EPP/CD), Hanne Severinsen (LDR) and Soeren Soendergaard (UEL) (Denmark), Vera Squarcialupi (Italy, SOC), Eisso Woltjer (SOC), René van der Linden (EPP/CD), Jan Dirk Blaauw (LDR) and Hanneke Gelderblom-Lankhout (LDR) (Netherlands), Peter Bloetzer (EPP/CD) and Andreas Gross (SOC) (Switzerland), Atilla Mutman (SOC), Süha Tanik (EDG) and Mehmet Silay (EDG) (Turkey). The rapporteurs names are in bold type.