KOVAČEVIĆ: PROBLEM OF INCOMPETENT AND UNPROFESSIONAL CEC WILL NOT BE SOLVED BY INTRODUCING SCANNERS

BANJA LUKA, MARCH 13 /SRNA/ - The SNSD has nothing against the modernization of the electoral process and is only asking that it be clearly defined how it will be carried out and who will control that process, said SNSD spokesman Radovan Kovačević.

"It is an absolute lie that the SNSD, Republika Srpska, or the ruling coalition are against the modernization of the electoral process," Kovačević said, adding that there is no scanner capable of scanning a ballot for the National Assembly that has a surface area of at least one square meter. He pointed out that introducing scanners will not solve the problem with the incompetent Central Election Commission /CEC/ of BiH, which is not a professional commission but a political instrument used against Republika Srpska and democracy. "When an unelected foreigner interferes in all of this, unconstitutionally and against the Dayton Agreement, when we see that the Constitution and Dayton are being violated by the way he approves funds for anything, when we see that those public procurements are a complete circus that many even call potential criminal activity, and that Schmidt, together with certain structures from Sarajevo and, unfortunately, certain minority structures from Banja Luka, is doing all of this exclusively to favor someone, then you truly see how dirty that swamp is," Kovačević added. He emphasized that the electoral process should not be dirty, but clean, and that it should confirm the will of the people. "We are ready to defend the will of the people, and we are confident that the will of the people will choose the policy of Milorad Dodik and those who are always ready to put Republika Srpska first," Kovačević told ATV. Speaking about amendments to the Election Law in BiH, Kovačević said that this law is among the most important in any society, because it regulates how democracy will function and therefore requires the broadest possible social consensus. "Unfortunately, we live in a place where it does not matter what happens in the parliamentary procedure, and where there is a foreigner who appears out of nowhere and thinks he can impose laws," Kovačević said. When it comes to changes to the Election Law and the parliamentary procedure, Kovačević said that no one really knows what is going on anymore. He added that there is currently no consensus for any solution, because there has never been any serious effort to reach a consensus or to build the parliamentary capacity needed to adopt a solution.