Fikret Abdić without a majority, Velika Kladuša paralyzed by budget blockade

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Financial flows in the municipality of Velika Kladuša are currently paralyzed, and the reason for this is that this local community entered the current year without an adopted budget and a decision on temporary financing, which has made all budget payments impossible.

The reason for this is the current political situation, given that a few months ago the Labour Party, founded by war criminal Fikret Abdić Babo, the current mayor of this municipality, lost its majority in the Municipal Council of Velika Kladuša, so there is currently a stalemate in that body. An attempt to adopt a decision that would enable temporary financing failed, because councilors from opposition political parties voted against it.

In the meantime, the Draft budget for this year has been sent for public discussion, and will be considered by the municipal councilors afterwards. Budget users who have not received their December salary are dissatisfied with this situation, and the Center for Social Work has warned that all social categories whose payments are blocked are also endangered.

• The decision on temporary financing is a technical decision that enables the functioning of the system. Unfortunately, such a decision was not supported, only councilors from the Labour Party voted for it, and the others were against it. We entered this year without any financial obligations for the previous period, and now we have a strange situation where we have a lot of funds in our account, but their payment is blocked. Everyone should understand that these are not political decisions, but that the functioning of our local community depends on it – says Ervin Abdić, advisor to the current municipal mayor.

He adds that if this situation continues, it could lead to the collapse of basic communal services financed from the local budget.

The Labour Party accused its political competitors of wanting to artificially create a crisis in order to make things worse in Velika Kladuša, and point out that behind all this lies politicking and the dishonest interests of a few individuals. On the other hand, opposition representatives blame Abdić and the Labourists for privatizing the budget and that it serves them exclusively for survival in power and satisfying personal interests.

The political situation in Velika Kladuša has been confusing for months, as there is no clearly defined parliamentary majority. We remind you that two months ago, councilors from SDA, SDP, Our Party, People's European Party, Democratic People's Community, and two independent councilors, gathered fifteen votes to recall Abdić. However, this failed after Ibrahim Kajtazović (SDP), who was subsequently expelled from that political party, did not attend the session where the vote was supposed to take place.