The High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, on Wednesday warned that the failure of certain cantons to bring their primary and secondary school legislation into line with the State legislation represented a violation of the Rule of Law and indirectly, a challenge to the statehood of BiH itself.
Last year, the HDZ and the SDA voted for the State Law on Primary and Secondary Education, which did the State Parliament then adopt unanimously. Since the end of last year cantons 2, 6, 7, 8 and 10 have consistently failed to support the harmonization of Cantonal Laws with the State legislation.
“This failure to bring cantonal law into line with State law represents a grave violation of the Rule of Law” the High Representative said. “If those involved do not address this matter urgently, and uphold the laws of the State of BIH, they are in effect challenging the statehood of BiH itself. The HDZ, and the SDA in Canton Seven, are now directly responsible for averting this possibility. Now that the Federation Constitutional Court has thrown out the Canton 6 HDZ’s VNI application on procedural grounds, they have no further excuses for failing to respect the Rule of Law. This issue is much too serious to be allowed to drag on much longer.”
The High Representative said that if action is not taken by Friday 4 June to bring the cantonal laws into line with the state legislation, the OHR will penalize those parties and individuals who are responsible for obstruction, starting with fines.