Appointments of the BiH Council of Ministers: Out of 23 director positions in state institutions, six for Bosniaks, eight for Croats, and nine for Serbs

In one year, the BiH Council of Ministers made 56 appointments to positions of director, deputy director, legal representative, public administration coordinator...

20 Serbs, 19 Bosniaks, and 17 Croats were appointed. Out of 23 director positions, six are held by Bosniaks, namely OSA, DKPT, Directorate for European Integration, BiH Agency for Law Enforcement Support, Mine Action Centre, BiH Agency for Identification Documents, Records and Data Exchange.

Croats hold eight leading positions, namely: BiH Border Police, BiH Council of Ministers Directorate for Economic Planning, BiH Civil Service Agency, Public Administration Coordinator, BiH Institute for Intellectual Property, BiH Agency for Preschool, Primary and Secondary Education, BiH Agency for Education and Training, BiH Agency for Anti-Doping Control.

Serbs hold nine leadership positions: Railway Regulatory Board, BiH Directorate of Civil Aviation, BiH Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices, BiH Indirect Taxation Authority, BiH Service for Foreigners' Affairs, BiH Plant Protection Administration, BiH Institute of Metrology, BiH Agency for Investment Development.

For comparison, Bosniaks previously led the BiH Civil Service Agency and the BiH Institute of Metrology, but now personnel from among Croats and Serbs have been appointed.

Although SDP BiH was supposed to get the position of Public Administration Coordinator, this did not happen, so at the session on February 1, 2024, Darko Kasap from HDZ was appointed instead of Samir Sabljica, who was appointed acting deputy despite not even applying for that position.

We still remember the statements from the parties of the 'trojka' about the so-called restoration of parity in state institutions. These appointments show that the 'new negotiators', as they called themselves, clearly did not know how to negotiate and at least retain existing positions, but clearly made concessions or were outplayed by the political strategists from HDZ and SNSD, which was not that difficult.

(A.V.)