Čolić and Gabela to be removed from Election and Appointment Committee, Pirić and HDZ 1990 to enter, Mašić and Žuljević could be outvoted

An extraordinary session of the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament on Thursday, July 6, will consider the decision on the election of the president, deputy president, and members of the working bodies of the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament.

This concerns the filling of the Election and Appointment Committee of the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament, which is missing two members following the resignations of Feliks Vidović and Antonio Sesar from HDZ, and the replacement of two committee members from parties not part of the FBiH government. Such a scenario was also announced by Istraga.ba.

This should ensure the necessary majority in the Committee for planned appointments, primarily for the proposed candidate Marin Vukoja for judge of the Constitutional Court of BiH and other appointments.

According to the proposal, Dajana Čolić from DF and Edina Gabela from the Party for BiH will be removed from the Committee. Elzina Pirić (PDA) and Stipe Tokić (HDZ 1990) will join instead, along with two members from HDZ replacing Vidović and Sesar.

This Committee should convene immediately after the extraordinary session concludes to prepare the appointment proposal for the regular session of the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament, which is scheduled after the extraordinary session.

The Election and Appointment Committee has a total of 11 members. The President of the Committee is Mladen Bošković from HDZ BiH. The Vice-President is Damir Mašić from SDP BiH. Committee members also include Aner Žuljević from SDP, Dragan Mioković from Our Party, Rasim Smajlović from NiP, Eldar Čomor from SDA, Irfan Durić from NES, and these four previously mentioned members to be appointed on Thursday.

This procedure violates the Rules of Procedure of the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament, which clearly stipulate that "the working body shall, as a rule, consist of representatives from all caucuses proportionally representing political parties in the House of Representatives, with one representative being a member of no more than three working bodies".

And here lies the problem. If the plan to change the members of this committee passes, it means that the 12 representatives and the parliamentary capacity of the Democratic Front are completely undermined, as they will have no member on the Committee. PDA has only one representative, Elzina Pirić, who, as a compliant member of the parliamentary majority, is now to join the Committee.

HDZ BiH has 15 representatives and three Committee members. Although SDP BiH also has 15 representatives, they have two members on the Committee.

The Party for BiH has four representatives, and now member Edina Gabela is being removed. In her place, a representative from HDZ 1990, which has only three representatives, will join.

Gabela is also supposed to be removed from the leadership of the House, and Arnel Isak, who is part of the ruling majority, appointed in her place.

Despite being the largest caucus in the House of Representatives with 26 representatives, SDA, as an opposition party, has only one member on the Committee.

By changing the composition of the Committee, Damir Mašić and Aner Žuljević, who are seeking to submit the entire list to Parliament, could be outvoted during the vote on the proposal for a judge of the Constitutional Court of BiH.