BOSNIA: NEW PARLIAMENTARY SPEAKERS PLEDGE SUPPORT

S E C R E T SARAJEVO 000199

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

EUR FOR DICARLO, EUR/SCE FOR HOH, FOOKS AND STINCHCOMB, NSC
FOR BRAUN, OSD FOR FLORY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/25/2017
TAGS: PGOV PTER BK
SUBJECT: BOSNIA: NEW PARLIAMENTARY SPEAKERS PLEDGE SUPPORT
FOR CITIZENSHIP REVIEW COMMISSION

REF: A. SARAJEVO 0063


B. 06 SARAJEVO 2072

C. 06 SARAJEVO 1748

Classified By: DCM JUDITH B. CEFKIN, REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (C) DCM, along with Political and Economic section
representatives, met January 25 with new co-speakers of the
BiH House of Representatives Niko Lozancic (HDZ-BiH) and
Milorad Zivkovic (SNSD) to discuss legislative priorities in
the months ahead; a key focus of the discussion was the need
for an extension of the mandate of the Citizenship Review
Commission (CRC). Both agreed the CRC's work was of great
importance, and its mandate should be extended as soon as
possible. (Note: The third co-speaker, Beriz Belkic (SBiH)
did not attend the meeting due to illness. End Note.) DCM
told the speakers the CRC's mandate must be extended prior to
February 16 or it would not be able to complete the review of
the approximately 400 remaining cases. The speakers noted
they were not aware time was so short, with Zivkovic
bemoaning the fact that there is no administrative clause in
the CRC law that would have allowed an extension without
action from parliament. Nonetheless, Zivkovic and Lozancic
both agreed they would explore the possibility of extending
the CRC's mandate without requiring action by the House of
Peoples, which has not yet been convened. (Comment: Party
struggles over the allocation of seats in the Federation
House of Peoples have delayed the formation of the BiH House
of Peoples, an issue that is unlikely to be resolved in the
immediate term. End Comment.)


2. (S) On a separate issue regarding the CRC, Pol Counselor
Michael Murphy told the speakers we hoped parliament would
pass an amendment to Article X of the Law on Citizenship to
ensure individuals stripped of their Bosnian citizenship
would be barred from reapplying at a later date. Currently,
the law contains a provision that allows for immediate
reapplication. In the previous session of parliament, the
amendment seeking to close this loophole was revised by the
Council of Ministers to allow reapplication after five years,
a move that may have been politically motivated, as the issue
became a cause celebre of nationalist Bosniaks during the
election campaign. After efforts to remove the five year
language from the draft proved unsuccessful, proponents of
the permanent ban on reapplication chose to pull the flawed
draft from consideration by the parliament so it could be
reintroduced after the election.


3. (S) Both speakers said they would support the removal of
the five year language. On tactics, Zivkovic noted it may be
safest to handle the removal of the objectionable language at
the committee level in parliament, rather than pass it back
for reintroduction by the Council of Ministers (CoM). That
way, members of the CoM, especially Minister for Human
Rights-designate Safet Halilovic (SBiH) could not attempt to
block the removal of the five year language. Lozancic
appeared to agree with this approach.


4. (S) COMMENT: The absence of Bosniak co-speaker Belkic,
though unplanned, likely lead to a more open and frank
discussion with the other speakers, who differ from Belkic on
many key issues, perhaps including the amendment to the CRC
law. The assurances of support for this key policy goal from
the other speakers should prove helpful to bringing Belkic on
board when the time comes to resubmit the law for
parliamentary approval. END COMMENT.
MCELHANEY