Federal Parliament on FTV: No Board of Directors exists, and Šabić has been director for nine years!

At today's session of the Federal Parliament, the head of the SBB Club of Delegates, Nasir Beganović, raised the question of the legality and legitimacy of the General Director of Federal Television (FTV), Džemal Šabić, and requested that reports on the management's work, financial reports, and the status of the Board of Directors be submitted to the Parliament as the founder, writes the Bosnian news agency Patria.

He even warned that the Parliament should set an example in respecting legal frameworks, and added that if the requested answers are not provided, the SBB Club will cease its work in the Parliament.

Incidentally, Federal Television has been in a confusing situation for years, which suits the current leadership headed by Director Džemal Šabić. Namely, the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which holds the founding rights, has not appointed members of the Board of Directors, and legal deadlines have been missed. Also, parliamentary majorities have been unable to agree on how this should be done.

FTV has been without a Board of Directors for years, so no one has control over the management's work anymore.

Director Šabić has been at the helm of FTV since 2008, and after the expiration of his five-year mandate, due to the chaotic situation, he continued to perform this function. This means that Šabić is already in his fourth year of a second term that no one has confirmed, but also no one has questioned!

Incidentally, according to the law, the mandate of the general director lasts five years, and a member of the same constituent people cannot be appointed general director for two consecutive terms.

Until the situation with the appointment of the Board of Directors is resolved, Šabić and FTV remain in their current position.

Incidentally, last year there was an initiative to amend the Law on the Public Radio-Television Service, which would pave the way for the appointment of a "political" Board of Directors, which was opposed by the opposition, but these amendments have not yet been submitted to the Parliament. Interestingly, Jozo Bagarić, head of the HDZ Club, previously told Patria that the "entire procedure was halted because there was no clear stance from coalition partners regarding FTV."

Bagarić then confirmed that the position of FTV director belongs to Bosniaks. The position of FTV director, according to the distribution, went to SBB, because the positions of director of FENA (Federal News Agency) and editor-in-chief were given to SDA and HDZ BiH.

Šabić is otherwise close to SDA, and during his "second term" he distributed contracts generously, and in recent years, numerous journalists who worked for years for honorariums left FTV, while suitable individuals were brought in and given contracts.

We remind you that, according to the still valid law, members of the FTV Board of Directors were elected in such a way that one member of the Board was elected each year, so that no political party could have control over the Public Service. However, it is clear that there is no political will to resolve the situation with this public service.