Eurasia Press & News
Today marks the one year since Bosnia and Herzegovina’s last general election and the 12th sucessive month that the country has had no newly formed government.
In the meantime, the country, which is being run using a technical mandate outlined in the Dayton Constitution, faces plummeting foreign direct investment, rising unemployment and a stagnating economy.
One of the key stumbling blocks to the formation of a new government is the appointment of new ministers to the country’s Council of Ministers. Leaders of the country’s six main political parties failed to forge consensus on appointments to the Council of Ministers at the latest round of talks in the northern Bosnian city of Brcko on September 26.
According to one source present at the negotiations, the President of Bosnia’s smaller predominantly Serb entity, the Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik was willing to accept the proposed agreement. The same source said that Dragan Covic, the leader of the largest Croat party, had rejected the compromise, saying he would not negotiate formation of the state-level government unless reform of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s other entity, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, would be discussed.
