Bandić: Leptospirosis is not an accident — it is a systemic failure of the "Trojka" government in KS!

(Patria) - Member of the Party of BiH in the Sarajevo Canton Assembly, Muamer Bandić, issued a press release today regarding the leptospirosis epidemic.

"If we ask ourselves today why Sarajevo Canton is experiencing the infectious disease leptospirosis, the answer is not in extraordinary circumstances or 'unforeseen situations', as the competent institutions try to present it. The answer is much simpler and much more dangerous because it is a matter of systemic negligence, of institutions not doing their job, and of a government collapsing under the weight of its own incompetence and inability to meet the basic hygiene needs of the capital city of our country," Bandić states.

It is added: "The Ministry of Health of Sarajevo Canton and the Institute of Public Health of Sarajevo Canton are trying to calm the public with brief statements and press conferences devoid of any real content.
Dear sirs, answer one simple question: Why was the report on preventive deratization for 2024 not submitted in February of this year?

The answer to that question should seriously concern citizens, because the fact is that there was no deratization and the government did not react to it at all, as if it were the most normal thing. I assume that the current rodent infestation is equally normal for them, so let them now look for someone to blame in the media for the responsibility, which is exclusively theirs".

"According to the Work Program of the KS Assembly, the Ministry of Health was obliged to submit a report on deratization for the previous year in February 2025. That report was not submitted. Moreover, preventive deratization was not carried out at all during 2023 or in the first half of 2024. And that negligence was concealed, hidden from the public, and even the KS Assembly was not informed about it.

If the report had been submitted within the stipulated deadline, the Assembly would have had a basis for discussion, perhaps urgent measures would have been taken, the public would have been warned of possible risks. Instead, the government remained silent until the leptospirosis epidemic broke out," says Bandić.

"The Collegium of the Assembly, which should oversee the dynamics and implementation of planned obligations, continues the practice of ignoring its own decisions. Members of the ruling majority, following an established pattern, become accomplices in the total collapse of the system, because their indolent attitude absolves those responsible for the current health crisis.
This is not an administrative oversight, but a pattern of action by the ruling majority, a pattern I regularly point out in Collegium sessions. For this government, the Work Program becomes a mere formality: it is adopted to satisfy legal form, and then completely ignored. This is the paralysis of the system in which the government respects neither its own plans nor laws, and ultimately does not respect its citizens. This government fulfills obligations selectively, according to someone's private needs or in cases where something suits the political moment, while everything outside these two criteria is forgotten, covered up, or quietly discarded, including some basic needs of the citizens of Sarajevo," the statement reads.

He points out that: "Reports on the work of institutions, which are key instruments for controlling the work of public institutions and companies, are intentionally not submitted or are submitted with multi-year delays. And we can no longer talk about technical delays here, but about the complete collapse of institutional functions, whether executive or legislative. The KS Assembly has therefore lost its purpose because it has been turned into a mere service for justifying the illegal actions of the executive authorities".

"One of the consequences of such (non)work is the leptospirosis epidemic. I know many will say that rats are the cause of the epidemic, but in such a system of (non)work, even rats are just one of the sad consequences of the rule of the incompetent. Adopting reports from 2022 and 2023 only in 2025 – that is the highest degree of systemic irresponsibility. For this government, it has become a rule to adopt work reports that are two or three years old. What is a rare exception and a disgrace everywhere in the world is a common occurrence and way of working for the "Trojka"," writes Bandić.

He explains that "there are such examples on the agenda of the 23rd regular session of the KS Assembly, scheduled for June 16, 2025.

Thus, deep into 2025, this diligent government in Sarajevo will consider:
• Report on the business operations of the Public Enterprise "Sarajevo-šume" for 2022 and 2023;
• Report on the business operations of the Public Enterprise ZOI '84 for 2023;
• Reports on the work and financial operations of the Public Institution "Center for Advanced Technologies" for 2022.
And that's not even the worst of it, because five laws will also be considered at the same session. And of those five laws, only one (Draft Law on Small Business Incentives) is from the Work Program of the KS Government.
The other four, although perhaps useful, were not planned at all, but someone urgently needs them".

"Thus, the KS Assembly, just like the KS Government, currently functions without a plan, without deadlines, and without responsibility, i.e., based on agreements! That's what I constantly warn about: This government treats the Work Program as an empty formality! That key document is adopted only to satisfy the form, and then it is completely ignored. Thus, improvisation is this government's way of working, while planning and the implementation of plans are a pure exception," Bandić states.

Failure to fulfill plans as a rule

"If we only scratch a little beneath the carefully spun media facade, where with the "Trojka" coming to power, houses in Sarajevo are made of chocolate and windows of jam, we will see that deratization is not the only institutional obligation that has not been fulfilled. For example, the KS Assembly has not considered or adopted key laws and strategies envisaged by the Work Program within the prescribed deadlines:
• Amendments to the KS Constitution – deadline: April
• Law on the KS Government (draft) – deadline: April
• Law on Communal Police – deadline: March
• Law on Weapons and Ammunition – deadline: April
• Law on Misdemeanors Against Public Order and Peace – deadline: April
• Law on Preschool Education – deadline: April
• Law on Dual Education – deadline: April
• Law on Scientific Research Activities (amendments) – deadline: April
• Law on Higher Education (amendments) – deadline: March
• Strategy for Youth 2024-2030 – deadline: April

Therefore, out of ten planned laws and strategies, the KS Assembly has not fulfilled a single obligation within the prescribed deadline, while at the same time considering laws that were not planned at all," the statement said.

Lack of responsibility in all segments

"With their current way of working, the "Trojka" parties clearly show citizens that for them, government, i.e., managing public resources, does not entail responsibility, transparency, or an institutional order.
This is a government unique in the world that writes laws without consultations and adopts them without any analysis. For this government, plans exist to be ignored, while problems are solved only when they escalate into a crisis. They are, of course, the most honest and transparent government, while someone else is always to blame for the consequences of their (non)work!", emphasizes the SBiH representative.

Results in these seven "best" years?

He adds: "Let's be clear, the "Trojka" parties did not come to power yesterday. They have been in power in Sarajevo Canton since 2018. So, approximately/almost seven years! And what have all those numerous promises of justice, equality, fight against corruption, European integration, and glamorous catchphrases like 'there is money when there is no stealing' brought us? So far, only legal, institutional, and health chaos, a dirty and neglected city, financial and security collapse of Sarajevo Canton, and as a special bonus of (non)work, an epidemic".

The way of working must change!

"The "Trojka" must understand that when public institutions ignore the Work Program and do not submit reports, they are actually ignoring the citizens of Sarajevo and their needs! When the government does not implement what it has planned itself, we can no longer talk about an organized government, but about organized anarchy, or a political mafia that is guided solely by its own interests, not the public interest! The situation where reports on unfulfilled deratization are hidden is not a bureaucratic oversight, but a threat to public health, and someone must be criminally responsible for it! The KS Government, in this regard, shows not only that it does not know how to manage crisis situations, but it creates them itself through its own (non)work! When the KS Assembly does not consider laws that it has planned itself, it is not a delay, but a collapse of the legislative institution.

And for a change of paradigm, the leaders of the "Trojka" and the ministers in the KS Government must understand that the citizens of Sarajevo do not need press conferences, nor meaningless explanations, and even less so shifting responsibility to others.
The citizens of Sarajevo need a government that does its job, enforces laws, and does not shy away from responsibility.
For starters, respect the programs you have written yourself, respect the deadlines you have set yourself, because those deadlines are not decorations, but the foundation of legal certainty and the pillar of the institutional order.

And that is the only way, if we want a legal order, public and health security, and a functional Canton, then we must have a government that will respect its own rules and respect its citizens.

Therefore, today the government does not need to explain to us how the epidemic occurred, but the citizens of Sarajevo should ask the government daily why it enabled it through its (non)work?", concluded Bandić in the statement.