DF Open: FBiH Government and Minister of Finance Prevent Further Economic Development of Goražde

A year has passed since the formation of the new parliamentary majority and government of the Bosnian Podrinje Canton Goražde, which the Democratic Front refused to join primarily due to the fact that part of the coalition majority was represented by the Party for a Better Goražde and the G6 group led by the current Minister of Economy, Esed Radeljaš. Then, as today, we claim that authorities in general, including the executive, cannot be composed of individuals prone to committing criminal acts, and that entering into any coalition relations with such individuals cannot result in success. After only one year of their activities, it has turned out that things have never been worse in Goražde, the Democratic Front announced, as reported by the Bosnian news agency Patria.

- We recall the engagement of our deputies in the Assembly of the Bosnian Podrinje Canton during that period: DF deputies Edita Velić and Neno Zuko, out of a total of 99 amendments to proposed laws, submitted 67, asked 21 questions, initiated 15 initiatives, and spoke 58 times, which shows that DF deputies participated in all agenda items and represented DF policies in the interest of citizens.

The activities of our deputies in the Assembly of the Bosnian Podrinje Canton Goražde aimed at protecting the veteran population, entrepreneurs, socially vulnerable categories, education, methods and means of employment, are an obstacle to the current government, whose priority is employing relatives and friends in the manner in which a deputy of the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina employed his wife, awarding scholarships to SDA party cadres, increasing utility and other obligations for entrepreneurs, irregular payment of legal obligations to social categories, and thereby bringing the economic status and survival of all citizens into an unenviable position.

We in the Democratic Front timely suggested and warned those responsible in the Bosnian Podrinje Canton Goražde area about the danger of marginalized political influence in the legislative and executive authorities of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The result of the political impotence of the current authorities is reflected in the fact that in 2015, the FBiH Government, out of the promised 7 million KM in grants, transferred 5 million KM to our canton, and that at the end of the calendar year, which prevented investment in sustainable growth and development of our canton.

The decision of the FBiH Government not to allocate funds to our canton in its 2016 budget under code 6141 - Transfers to lower levels of government will have negative effects on the state of the economy in the Bosnian Podrinje Canton Goražde.

The latest decision of the FBiH Minister of Finance, Jelka Milićević (HDZ BiH), to apply unofficial results of the 2013 population census has resulted in a reduction of indirect tax revenues for the municipality of Goražde by over 30% compared to the previous ones, and the Budget of the Bosnian Podrinje Canton Goražde under this decision will be deprived of more than 3 million KM.

We in the Democratic Front find it incomprehensible that the Party of Democratic Action, which constitutes the majority in the Federal Government, has not reacted at all in the past year to the obvious efforts of the Minister of Finance and the FBiH Government as a whole to prevent this area from further economic development. The most severe and dangerous decision of the FBiH Government for the economy of the Bosnian Podrinje Canton Goražde is the adopted amendments to the Law on Profit Tax, which abolish privileges for export-oriented entrepreneurs, which, when it comes to our canton, could have unforeseeable consequences, given that our economy was launched by domestic investors.

We note that the DF deputy in the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dževad Adžem, in coordination with four cantonal chambers of commerce, submitted an amendment to the Law on Amendments to the Law on Profit Tax with the explanation that the Government should enable and stimulate entrepreneurs to export, but that and all other amendments were rejected by the FBiH Government, thereby further jeopardizing the most export-oriented canton in the FBiH.

We in the DF will, as before, respecting the laws of this state, resolutely fight against crime and corruption and present to citizens all information we come into possession of that pertains to the squandering of their funds.

Dear citizens, without your help, the Democratic Front will not be able to stop our further decline in all spheres of life and work. Therefore, we invite you to join us as members or sympathizers and to jointly try to secure for our canton and our Goražde the status they deserve.