Can I bargain with the Mayor?

Brčko District (pronounced [br̩̂t͡ʃkɔː]) in northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina is a neutral, self-governing administrative unit, under the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is formally part of both BiH entities: the Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The seat of the district is the city of Brčko . The Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina today called upon the citizens of Brcko District to determine their citizenship before 28 August 2014.It’s a condition of vote in the upcoming general elections. He reminded citizens in Brcko District that they need to opt for one of the entity citizenships to be able to exercise their right to vote and run in the election. The citizens have one month left to act. They can do so in the office of the Brcko District Government or in 14 smaller offices across the District. This is an important issue. Citizens will be unable to fully enjoy their democratic right to vote because they fai...

Today, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) presented its  Handbook on Promoting Women’s Participation in Political Parties  at a side event on the second day of the OSCE Gender Equality Review Conference in Vienna. The handbook is the first tool of its kind for the OSCE region, produced to support political party leaders in facilitating broader access for women to party structures and elected office. The handbook highlights different strategies for enhancing women’s participation in political parties, including successful examples from political parties in the OSCE region, such as voluntary measures and capacity-building initiatives. Political parties play a key role in increasing women’s political participation, both as candidates and holders of elected office.. We must recognize women’s rights to participate on an equal footing in all spheres of decision-making process within political parties. As part of the event, members of par...

Yesterday, in Sarajevo, the Acting Head of OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Nina Suomalainen today expressed her support for all the efforts aimed at enabling elections in the city of Mostar to be held in parallel with the general elections due in October 2014. She said that she welcome all constructive proposals for finding an end to the deadlock in Mostar. The lack of properly functioning city institutions has been negatively influencing the lives of citizens for too long . People must regain their social rights, and there is still time to resolve this issue and enable them to vote in the autumn. Before yesterday, the Office of the High Representative (OHR) sent to the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH a draft suggestion for amendments which would allow holding elections in Mostar this year. The Parliamentary Assembly is responsible for implementing the changes to the Election Law, which must be done before the Statute of Mostar can be amended. Th...

OSCE Mission to Skopje promotes democratic values in youth party branches ahead of elections. Raising awareness among the youth branches of political parties on the importance of democratic values in an election process was the aim of a conference organized by the OSCE Mission to Skopje and the MOST non-governmental organization on 14 to 16 March 2014. More than 55 representatives of 19 youth branches from different political parties came together to discuss their role within their organizations during election time, as well as lessons learned from political practice. “Through direct and sincere discussion, the youth branches successfully challenge a trend towards polarization of the political landscape in the country. Ahead of the campaigns for the presidential and parliamentary elections, which are scheduled for 13 and 27 April, the conference sent a positive message with clear proposals to encourage dialogue between young activists of different political orientat...