House of Peoples on the initiative to dismiss SNSD officials

(Patria) - The 11th urgent session of the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH (PSBiH) has been scheduled for today in Sarajevo, starting at 11:00 AM. There are six items on the agenda.

State delegates are expected to consider the principles of the Bill on Amendments to the Law on Value Added Tax of BiH, proposed by the House of Representatives of the PSBiH.

The proposed amendments relate to the refund of VAT payments for the purchase of the first property for all adult natural persons residing in BiH.

The Constitutional-Legal Committee of the House of Peoples previously determined that the proposed law is in line with the Constitution of BiH and the legal system of BiH, and the Committee for Finance and Budget supported the principles of the proposed law.

The House of Representatives of the PSBiH adopted the proposal of this law at the beginning of December last year, which stipulates that an adult natural person who is a citizen of BiH with permanent residence in BiH, who is the buyer of a residential building, has the right to a VAT refund when purchasing their first residential building.

"One of the reasons for adopting these amendments is the social character of the proposed changes, as we are facing high housing prices in BiH, and these changes would make buying the first property more accessible for young people," stated the proposers in the explanation.

They emphasize that their intention is for every adult person residing in BiH to have the right to apply for a VAT refund when purchasing their first property, which has not been previously traded.

The House of Peoples is also expected to consider today the request of the House of Representatives of the PSBiH to consider the Bill on Amendments to the Law on Salaries and Allowances in BiH Institutions under an urgent procedure.

The proposed law, adopted by the House of Representatives in mid-December last year, stipulates that, exceptionally from Article 7 of the law, for the calculation of salaries of budget users, specifically for the positions of Chairperson and Deputy Chairpersons of the House of Representatives and the House of Peoples of the PSBiH, chairpersons of working committees of both houses and chairpersons of caucuses of the House of Peoples and the House of Representatives of the PSBiH, representatives and delegates in the PSBiH, member of the Presidency of BiH, Chairperson of the Council of Ministers of BiH, Deputy Chairperson of the Council of Ministers of BiH, minister, deputy minister, the base from 2024 will be used.

In the explanation of the proposed law, it was stated that the Council of Ministers of BiH adopted the Decision on the amount of the base for salary calculation for employees in BiH institutions for 2025, which determined that the base for salary calculation for employees in BiH institutions for 2025 is set at KM 631.50.

"An increase in the salary calculation base from 600.00 KM to 631.50 KM for a coefficient of 10.00 represents an increase of more than 315.00 KM, while for a coefficient of 1.20 it would amount to 37.80 KM, which is unacceptable," stated the proposers of the mentioned law.

Today, the request of delegate Džemal Smajić for the urgent consideration of the Bill on Amendments to the Law on Salaries and Allowances in BiH Institutions is also expected to be considered.

Smajić stated that the proposed amendments to the law, which set new coefficients for the positions of soldier to lieutenant for professional military personnel, police officer to junior inspector for police officers, and unskilled to independent referent with higher education for employees, would, to a certain extent, mitigate the negative consequences of inflation regarding the real decrease in income, and would also improve the material status of employees in BiH institutions.

In addition to several proposed legal solutions, the House of Peoples is expected to consider two initiatives for the dismissal of SNSD officials in the executive and legislative branches.

The agenda is expected to include the Proposal of the Decision on the dismissal of the Chairperson/First Deputy Chairperson/Second Deputy Chairperson of the House of Peoples of the PSBiH, Nikola Špirić, proposed by delegates Nenad Vuković (PDP), Želimir Nešković (SDS), Ilija Cvitanović (HDZ 1990), Zlatko Miletić (ZNG), and Kemal Ademović (NiP).

It is also planned to consider the Proposal of the Decision on the dismissal of the Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH, Staša Košarac, and the Minister of Finance and Treasury of BiH, Srđan Amidžić, whose proposers are also delegates Vuković, Nešković, Cvitanović, Miletić, and Ademović.

The House of Representatives of the PSBiH adopted a decision on February 25 to dismiss SNSD ministers in the Council of Ministers of BiH - Staša Košarac from the position of Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH and Srđan Amidžić from the position of Minister of Finance and Treasury of BiH.