High Representative
The highest political authority in the country is the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the chief executive officer for the international civilian presence in the country. Since 1995, the High Representative has been able to bypass the elected parliamentary assembly or to remove elected officials. The methods selected by the High Representative are often seen as dictatorship. Even the symbols of Bosnian statehood (flag, coat of arms) have been chosen by the Highest Representative rather than by the Bosnian people. The source of the authority of the High Representative is essentially contractual. His mandate derives from the Dayton Agreement, as confirmed by the Peace Implementation Council, an ad hoc body with a Steering Board composed of representatives of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the UK, the United States, the presidency of the European Union, the European Commission, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
Read more about this topic: Politics Of Bosnia And Herzegovina
Famous quotes containing the word high:
“Because of these convictions, I made a personal decision in the 1964 Presidential campaign to make education a fundamental issue and to put it high on the nation’s agenda. I proposed to act on my belief that regardless of a family’s financial condition, education should be available to every child in the United States—as much education as he could absorb.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)