With the 2022 general elections just over a year away in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Platform for Progress continues to review and analyze lessons learned from its experiences during the 2018 general elections and the 2020 local elections. The president of the Platform, Mirsad Hadžkadić, says it is essential for the organization to improve its reach at the grassroots level throughout the country in order to be able to address the needs of all of its citizens. Hadžkadić also spoke to me about how they must accept the fact that there will be negative chatter in the media from dissidents within the platform from here on out and how best to address it in the coming months. We also talked about the pending deadlines for the Platform, which include making any decisions into establishing a political coalition and the announcement of candidates for the 2022 general elections. 

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The new High Representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina, William Schmidt, has indicated on more than one occasion the need for electronic voting in the country. These words bring about cautious optimism to the president of the Platform for Progress, Mirsad Hadžikadić. During his run for the presidency in 2018, Hadžikadić stressed the need for electronic voting in order to combat the inherent corruption that currently exists within the voting system. Hadžikadić hopes to be able to meet with Schmidt to outline the Platform’s stance on electronic voting and the dire need for it to become a reality. We recently spoke about what all of this could mean for the future of politics in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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William Schmidt of Germany officially stepped into his new role as the High Representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina on August 1st. He replaces Valentin Inzko, who had held the position for the last 12 years. The High Representative is pointed by the European Union and is tasked with overseeing the 1995 Dayton Peace agreement, which brought the Bosnian war to an end. The president of the Platform for Progress, Mirsad Hadžikadič, had an opportunity to speak with both Schmidt and Inzko on Monday during an informal reception to introduce Schmidt. Mirsad indicated that he hopes to have more private and formal discussions with Schmidt in the future, to explain in more detail the vision of the Platform. Mirsad said he is encouraged though, by the fact that Schmidt has openly discussed the need for electronic voting in the country, an issue that Mirsad and the Platform have been pressing for the last three years. Mirsad, also spoke to me about an opportunity he had to revisit some of his family roots.

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