ON RECALL OF MAYOR IN THE REPUBLIKA SRPSKA

Abstract

The author analyzes the institution of recall of mayor in the legal system of the Republika Srpska. The purpose of the work is to critically examine legal provisions of two laws – the Election Law of the Republika Srpska (which is the main legal act for this issue) and the Law on Local Self-government of the Republika Srpska.

The author thinks that the institution of recall has serious democratic potential since it is an instrument for political control of mayor by citizens. However, legal provisions limit this potential since they don’t encourage citizens (while the contrary is with political parties!) to use this instrument of political control. Since the decision on starting of the recall procedure eventually depends on a local assembly, recall has very often been used as a means for political confrontation between a local assembly and a mayor while the citizens have remained as a second-class political subject.

The Election Law of the Republika Srpska doesn’t contain satisfactory provisions on the protection of rights of citizens and political subjects during the recall procedure, and it has to be noted that this topic is relatively unregulated or under regulated. Finally, the Law on Local Self-government of the Republika Srpska protects a local assembly which triggers an unsuccessful recall procedure since there is no legal guarantee that such a local assembly would be dissolved.

The analysis includes plenty of proposals for different and, in author's view, improved legal regulation.