REFORM OF ELECTORAL LEGISLATION – FIRST STEP TO ACCOMPLISHING CROATIAN NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY AND FUNCTIONALITY OF BiH

Sa？etak Process of de-constituting Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina started with unconstitutionally imposed changes of the Election Law following the proposal of the head of OSCE’s mission in BiH Robert Berry in 2000, and continued in 2002 with imposed amendments to the Constitution of the Federation of BiH by high representative Petritsch. These amendments, resulted in further de-constitution of Croats and strengthening division of Bosnia and Herzegovina in two entities – Serb dominated Republika Srpska and Bosniak dominated Federation of BiH. The gravest consequences for Croatian constitutiveness and equality originated from the changes of the Election Law regarding election of delegates in the House of Peoples of the Federation. Election rules allowed cantons with Bosniak majority to always elect majurity in all Clubs. These changes were a motif for me, as a speaker of the House of Representatives of the PA BiH, to send a Request to review the constitutionality of the BiH Election Law in the part that refers to the election of delegates in the House of Peoples of the Federation. Constitutional Court declaring certain articles of the Election Law unconstitutional. These decisions give confidence and show the way how to continue with correcting disrupted solutions of the Dayton Peace Agreement. Accomplishment of full constitutiveness and sovereignty of Croatian people and construction of functional and self-sustaining Bosnia and Herzegovina can be attained only with fundamental constitutional reform which will recognize the right of Croatian people to decide on the internal organization of the state where it wants to live