PHOTO/VIDEO Employment after "white bread"

Defeat in the elections does not mean the loss of a state salary for some politicians. When they fail to renew their mandate in parliament, they become heads of public administration.

Although there is a tender procedure for leadership positions, the final selection of candidates is the result of political agreements, according to research by the Center for Investigative Journalism of Sarajevo (CIN), reports the news agency Patria (NAP).

While waiting for a new position, politicians enjoy "white bread", a right that allows them to receive the same net salary they had in parliament for a period of up to one year.

At least 13 former parliamentarians from the previous two terms have found jobs in management positions in administration, including Slavko Matić, Mirko Okolić, and Husein Nanić. They most often got new jobs immediately after using the "white bread" privilege.

Party support then appearance before the commission

Slavko Matić failed to renew his mandate in the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in the 2010 General Elections. However, he hoped that his party, the Croatian Democratic Union of BiH (HDZBiH), would become part of the executive government in the Federation of BiH, and he would get a position in Sarajevo. He did not want to return to his hometown of Domaljevac-Šamac.

Slavko Matić sought support for his appointment as director of the BiH Anti-Doping Agency from his party – HDZBiH. (Photo: CIN)

Government formation in the FBiH took six months, but in the end, there were no representatives of his party in it. Because of this, Matić started inquiring about a job in his native Posavina. During that period, he was not without income. Thanks to "white bread", he received 4,541 KM every month for a year.

"I was looking for a solution, and in conversation with friends, they told me not to invent any warm water – there is a legally regulated possibility for the prime minister to have an advisor," Matić told a CIN journalist.

The position of advisor is not obtained through a tender procedure, but based on the discretionary right of the president, prime minister, and ministers. According to CIN research, these well-paid positions are often held by politicians who have lost elections or their relatives.

Matić, with his party colleague Marijan Oršolić, then Prime Minister of Posavina Canton, agreed to be his advisor on veteran affairs and legislative procedures. Matić is an economist by profession. During the war, he was the Chief of Staff of the 104th Brigade of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) in his hometown, and until 1999, he was the head of the Defense Administration of Orašje.

Given that the advisor position is temporary, Matić found himself looking for a new job again. An opportunity arose in the spring of 2013 when the tender for the director of the BiH Anti-Doping Agency was announced, as the mandate of the then director, Branko Markić, had expired after four years.

The procedure requires the appointment of the director to be proposed by a five-member commission, which evaluates candidates in an interview, and which consists of employees of the Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH, while the Council of Ministers of BiH finally confirms the proposed candidate by voting.

Matić is a member of the Main Board of HDZBiH and has been in the Party for 25 years. He was also the president of the party's Posavina Cantonal Board and the secretary of the Domaljevac-Šamac Municipal Board. He told the CIN journalist that after applying for the tender, he asked his friends in the Party if he would have their support for this position. He says they told him in the Party that he had to meet the tender requirements.

"If I don't meet the requirements in full, they can't support or help anything, but if I meet the requirements, then as far as they are concerned, I will have support."

Although he received confirmation that the Party would support him, Matić says that the interview he attended was not just a formality.

"There were dilemmas that two or three people from my party could appear who have political experience and political rating in the Party like me, and who at the same time are not employed anywhere at that moment," adds Matić.

Matić's only competitor was the then director of the Agency, Branko Markić, who, according to the auditors' assessment, performed his job successfully, while the other applicants did not even show up for the interview.

The tender commission, consisting of: Suvad Džafić, Zlatko Horvat, Biljana Čamur, Edin Kučuković, and Velibor Vasović, decided that Matić was a better candidate than Markić. The Council of Ministers of BiH confirmed such a choice.

Matić was appointed director in mid-July 2013. He believes that as one of the founders of the Party in Posavina and a politician with long-standing engagement, the director position rightfully belongs to him.

"Whatever anyone thinks about it, when it comes to appointed persons at the state or entity level, of course, politics decides," Matić tells CIN.

The president of his party, Dragan Čović, agrees with him, stating in one of his addresses to the media in June this year: "Staffing is very simple. One comes and goes to agencies or public companies through politics. This is standard behavior in the democratic world."

On the other hand, public administration expert Damir Ahmetović does not think so. He warns that we have a situation where tenders are announced, and it is already known which political party has been allocated what. "I think this is unacceptable, and political parties must understand that tenders for state institutions should be announced in a way that allows the best people to be hired for these jobs, because their obligation is to protect the interests of the state, not a political party, which is completely distorted at the moment."

Floods as an excuse for political employment

Matić's colleague from the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, Mirko Okolić, also found a job in administration. He has been a member of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) since its founding. Besides the BiH Parliament, he also represented the Party as Deputy Minister of Defense.

Mirko Okolić was appointed head of the newly formed Civil Protection Department of the City of Doboj in December 2014, just as his right to "white bread" expired. (Photo: CIN)

When he was dismissed from this position at the end of October 2013, he continued to receive 4,180 KM per month for the next year based on "white bread". He spent this time in his hometown of Doboj, a city hit by floods in the spring of last year. The city's Civil Protection Department could not adequately respond to the force of the swollen Bosna River.

After the water receded, the Mayor of Doboj, Obren Petrović, decided in mid-September to transform the Civil Protection Department into the Department of Civil Protection and appoint Okolić as its head. Besides belonging to the same party, Okolić and Petrović had been close associates in the municipal government for years.

The changes surprised the then head of the Department, Milko Vidaković, who had 39 years of experience in civil protection. Vidaković learned about it when he saw the new systematization of jobs in the city administration in October, which is why he requested a meeting with Mayor Petrović.

As he told CIN, Petrović told him: "Milko, we will form a department. We will have another person as the head of the department, your salary will remain the same as the head of the department, you will perform the function of an advisory body, you will help further in the organization of civil protection," Vidaković recounts, who accepted such a plan.

Okolić tells CIN that his employment was the result of an agreement with his party colleague, Mayor Petrović: "Well, of course. How could it be without an agreement? I asked for something to be done, and this is what came of it," says Okolić. He believes his experience can help Doboj. "It was simply said: come on, you will go to civil protection," says Okolić.

Okolić was appointed acting head of the Department of Civil Protection of the City of Doboj in December 2014, just as his right to "white bread" expired.

European regulations, domestic application

Husein Nanić, a member of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) since its founding, also did not remain without a salary after losing his position in the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH. Thanks to "white bread", with monthly income of 4,574 KM throughout 2011, he had enough time to find a new job without rushing. He succeeded.

Husein Nanić from SDA was appointed director of the BiH Agency for Development of Higher Education and Quality Assurance seven days before his one-year right to "white bread" expired. (Photo: CIN)

Seven days before his right to enjoy a high salary without working expired, he was appointed director of the BiH Agency for Development of Higher Education and Quality Assurance. The tender was announced in September 2011. The Director of the Agency is chosen by a five-member commission composed of employees of the Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH. They evaluate who among the candidates is the best based on their personal assessment of the candidates' answers in the interview. They send the names of the selected candidates to the Council of Ministers of BiH, which appoints the most successful one.

Out of four applicants, Nanić and the acting director of the Agency, Boris Ćurković, showed up for the interview.

 Among other things, candidates were required to have: a university degree, five years of professional experience, including at least three years in higher education, experience in strategic and operational planning, experience in managing human resources, finances, and projects, and the application of European standards in the work of higher education institutions.

In addition to four years of experience in higher education as an assistant at the Faculty of Biotechnology in Bihać, Nanić spent the last 21 years in executive or legislative government at the municipal, cantonal, and state levels.

Nanić explains to CIN how he documented that he met the requirements: "In the application, you provide your data which you believe is sufficient to meet the requirements. I listed everything I have done in my 20+ years, and the commission simply evaluated those points and made decisions."

His opponent, Ćurković, had already worked at the Agency and participated in the reform of higher education. He prepared the rules for its development and worked on the accreditation processes of faculties and managed international projects in the education sector. He tells CIN that he wanted to present the Agency's development visions to the commission members. "However, they told me: no, you don't need to. Just answer these three questions."

Nanić received perfect tens from all commission members at the same interview, while Ćurković received three tens and two nines. According to the regulations on conducting the tender procedure, commission members are not obliged to explain the basis for their ratings. The Council of Ministers of BiH confirmed their appointment. "I believe I was a better candidate than Husein," says Ćurković. He thinks nationality and political affiliation were decisive: "That's how it is, and there's no point in getting angry about it."

Nanić says he did not know the commission members. However, one of them, Amer Obradović, says he knew both candidates. Obradović was an advisor to the Deputy Minister of Civil Affairs and an SDA member Senad Šepić at the time of the tender. He says he does not remember why Nanić was a better candidate than Ćurković, that he was on many commissions, but that he never chose anyone based on party membership. Nevertheless, he believes that appointments are often political in nature:

"Practice shows that they very often are. That is my opinion, unrelated to this appointment."

Member of the Agency's Management Board, Professor Lamija Tanović, shares that opinion regarding the election of the institution's management, as both the director and his deputies are party members. She is not satisfied with the work and responsibilities of the Agency and believes it has a different purpose. "So, to accommodate some worn-out cadres," Tanović tells CIN.