BOSNIA: COMMITTEE REJECTS POLICE REFORM LAWS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SARAJEVO 000488 SIPDIS SIPDIS EUR FOR DICARLO, EUR/SCE (HOH, FOOKS, STINCHCOMB); NSC FOR BRAUN; OSD FOR BEIN E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/12/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR EU BK SUBJECT: BOSNIA: COMMITTEE REJECTS POLICE REFORM LAWS REF: A. SARAJEVO 363 ¶B. SARAJEVO 478 ¶C. SARAJEVO 245 ¶D. 07 SARAJEVO 2670 Classified By: DCM Judith B. Cefkin, reasons 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) Summary: On March 12, the Joint Committee on Defense and Security failed in a six-six vote to endorse the two draft police reform laws mandated by the Mostar Declaration and the Sarajevo Action Plan (Ref A). The EC has indicated that the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) might be signed in April if the draft laws are adopted; however failure to adopt them may delay an SAA indefinitely. Parliament must now decide whether it will accept the Joint Committee's negative appraisal, which would kill the draft laws, or to reject it and send the draft laws back to the Committee for one more appraisal. A second negative appraisal would mean the end of the draft laws. End Summary Draft Police Reform Laws get Negative Committee Appraisal -------------- -------------- ¶2. (U) On March 12, the 12 member Joint Parliamentary Committee on Defense and Security failed to endorse the two draft police reform laws mandated by the Mostar Declaration and the Sarajevo Action Plan (Ref A). A simple majority in favor would have been enough to give the bills a positive committee appraisal, but the final 6-6 vote failed to provide the required majority, thus resulting in a negative committee appraisal. Two SNSD, two HDZ-BiH, one HDZ-1990, and one SBiH delegates voted for the draft laws. Three SDA delegates, one SDP, and two SDS delegates voted against. SNSD Rejects All Amendments -------------- ¶3. (C) Before the final vote, the committee had considered and rejected over 60 amendments. We had urged SNSD leadership including Serb Tri-Presidency Member Nebojsa Radmanovic (Ref B) and RSNA Speaker Igor Radojicic, to support amendments consistent with the Mostar Declaration, including those from SBiH, but the two SNSD delegates opposed all amendments. SBiH has been insisting that it would withdraw support for the laws should the final drafts not include SBiH amendments containing language stipulating that the competencies of the seven new police support agencies created by these laws would be extended to the local level following the future completion of constitutional reform -- a key element of the Mostar Declaration (Ref A). Even though these SBiH amendments were rejected, the one SBiH delegate voted in favor of the laws after receiving assurances from SNSD delegates that they would consider supporting SBiH amendments during consideration of the laws on the floor of the House of Representatives on March 18. SDA gives three Votes against the Laws -------------- ¶4. (C) On March 11 Ambassador called Tihic and urged that SDA not block the draft laws and endanger Bosnia's prospects for signing an SAA. Tihic reiterated his opposition to the draft laws (Ref C),which, he said, deviated from the Mostar Declaration and the 3 EU principles. Tihic restated his intention to oppose the laws in Parliament. Ambassador explained that the draft laws will put BiH onto the EU path by allowing it to sign the SAA and thereby open the door to more fundamental reforms. Tihic promised not to use his delegates in the House of Peoples to block the laws or to invoke Vital National Interest. Tihic was coy about how SDA would react in the Joint Committee, on which Tihic himself is a member. Tihic and his SDA colleagues unsuccessfully lobbied for the inclusion of numerous SDA amendments. In the final vote all three of SDA delegates voted to give the laws a negative appraisal. SDS Changed its Mind Last Minute -------------- ¶5. (C) SDS officials had given assurances to the Office of the High Representative that they would abstain in the final committee vote. Throughout the voting on amendments, the SDS delegates did abstain, but in the final vote the two SDS SARAJEVO 00000488 002 OF 002 delegates decided to oppose the draft laws, thus contributing to the negative appraisal. Next Steps in Parliamentary Procedure -------------- ¶6. (U) Now the House of Representative must decide whether to accept or reject the Committee's appraisal. It will likely do so at its next session on March 18. Acceptance of the committee's negative appraisal would kill the draft laws. However, the House may vote to reject the negative appraisal and send the draft laws back to the committee for one final review. If the committee gives the drafts laws a second negative appraisal, then the draft laws will be killed. The draft laws will move on to be considered in second reading by the House of Representatives only if the committee reverses its position and provides a positive appraisal. ¶7. (C) The political parties that supported the draft laws in committee have 20 out of 42 seats in the House of Representatives. Including one PDP delegate and one DNS delegate (who both supported the laws in first reading),the House of Representatives would likely have enough votes to return the draft laws to committee for reconsideration. However, for the draft laws to survive a second review by committee, SBiH will have to maintain support for them despite not having secured any of the four amendments they insisted upon, and at least one of the six SDS, SDP, or SDA delegates must reverse his/her vote or abstain. Threat to SAA Signing -------------- ¶8. (C) The EC had agreed to initial an SAA with Bosnia-Herzegovina following the Council of Minister's adoption of a plan to create seven new state-level police support agencies as envisioned in the of the Mostar Declaration, Sarajevo Action Plan, and Laktasi agreement (Ref D). The EC has signaled that it could sign and SAA in April, if the draft laws are passed. Their failure in committee or before the full House of Representatives would derail these plans and could delay the SAA signing indefinitely. ENGLISH