Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had within the Peace Implementation Council of the Dayton Peace Agreement regarding (1) election law reform, and (2) forthcoming elections, in Bosnia and Herzegovina; and to what extent any such discussions have noted the importance of maintaining the ability for full electoral participation by ethnic minorities within the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The UK strongly supports the High Representative and the use of his executive powers should the situation require it. Officials have made this clear in meetings of the Steering Board of Ambassadors of the Peace Implementation Council. The measures he imposed on 27 July are a valuable step towards increasing the integrity and transparency of the 2 October elections. He has also called on Bosnia and Herzegovina's political party leaders to develop domestic solutions to the significant functionality problems. We encourage leaders to engage constructively to find solutions.