October elections detract from key reforms
Overview:
Presidential and parliamentary elections will be held on October 3rd. As had been feared, the approach of these elections has detracted from the pace of implementation of economic and political reforms necessary to keep the IMF agreement on track and continue the EU integration process. Some progress will likely be made once the long period of post-election government formation is completed. A wider concern is that some of the reforms necessary for EU integration and the creation of a more viable state going forward are still likely to be very difficult to achieve whatever the stage of the electoral cycle. Many politicians still thing along nationalist lines even though they are all committed to the Dayton Agreement. They interpret this Agreement in radically different ways.