Representatives of the “Youth Center” Association of Bugojno submitted petition signatures to the protocol office of the Municipality of Bugojno, collected during street actions at Sultan Ahmed Street Square and in front of Bugojno High School, calling for the urgent scheduling and holding of elections for the councils of local communities. The petition signatures were addressed to Igor Vrljić, Chair of the Bugojno Municipal Council, and the Collegium of the Municipal Council.

Citizens, through their support for this initiative, which is being implemented with the support of the PRAGG project, clearly expressed their desire for the return of direct democracy and the opportunity to once again elect their representatives at the lowest level of local self-government after nine years.

Through the submitted letter and collected petition signatures, they specifically called for concrete institutional action: 1) Initiating the procedure for adopting a decision on announcing and holding elections for local community councils; 2) Including this item on the agenda of the upcoming session of the Bugojno Municipal Council; 3) Defining clear deadlines and next steps to ensure that the elections are finally conducted.

“Local communities are the foundation of citizen participation in government, and the absence of legitimately elected councils has been a longstanding issue that must be resolved urgently. We expect the Council Collegium and the Chair of the Council to respect the voice of citizens and initiate the necessary procedures,” the Association stated.

The Association has also officially informed the Mayor of Bugojno, Edin Mašić, about the implemented activities and the submitted signatures, calling on the executive branch to support this process within the scope of its responsibilities.

They remind that elections for local community councils in the Municipality of Bugojno have not been held since 2017, depriving citizens for years of the opportunity to directly elect representatives who should advocate for the interests of their communities and participate in decision-making processes affecting their daily lives.

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