AFFAIR: Competition for the employment of three civil servants in the Ministry of Science, Higher Education and Youth halted

(Patria) - The public competition for filling three positions in the Ministry of Science, Higher Education and Youth of KS, announced by the Civil Service Agency of FBiH on December 26, 2024, is postponed until further notice. The announcement about this was posted on January 29.

Candidates could apply until January 10, and after media reports that it was already known who would be hired, the competition was postponed.

The Ministry of Science, Higher Education and Youth of Sarajevo Canton is headed by Adna Mesihović from ZNG, a movement founded by Damir Marjanović, a current representative in the KS Assembly.

The competition was announced for three positions: Expert Associate for Youth Support, Expert Associate for Higher Education, and Expert Associate for Quality, Accreditation, and Information System.

An internal competition was previously announced in the Ministry, but reportedly no candidate met the criteria, so an external competition was subsequently announced.

According to information previously published by Patria, one of these positions was "reserved" for Arijana Turković, who has been engaged on a contract basis in this Ministry since the very appointment of Minister Mesihović in November 2023. Turković has a degree in Economics, which is the required field of study for the position of Expert Associate for Youth Support.

Incidentally, Arijana Turković was a candidate for the For New Generations movement in the 2022 General Elections.

The minister had also formed a commission for conducting exams, but due to the affair surrounding the competition, she abandoned further proceedings.

On the other hand, negotiations on the reconstruction of the KS Government are still ongoing, and the contentious positions belong to ZNG, which has two ministers in the KS Government but only one vote in the KS Assembly.

As stated by the Prime Minister of KS, Nihad Uk, ZNG could be reduced to only one ministry. However, there are still no decisions on the reconstruction, nor is there a KS budget for 2025. The Ministry of Finance of KS is headed by Afan Kalamujić, a ZNG cadre.