AMEND THE LAW Izetbegović requests SDA members to direct increased salaries to humanitarian purposes

(Patria) - The entire amount by which my income in the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina will be increased after the adoption of the Budget will be directed to humanitarian purposes. I will pay that amount until the end of my mandate to the organization Pomozi.ba, confirmed today Bakir Izetbegović, member of the Collegium of the House of Peoples of the PA BiH and president of SDA.

"I will ask all deputies and delegates of SDA in the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ministers and deputy ministers from SDA in the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina to also direct the difference in income to humanitarian purposes. SDA will urgently create and submit for procedure amendments to legal solutions that will entail a reduction in the highest incomes of officials at the state level, and an increase in salaries of officials with low incomes," stated Izetbegović. 

He confirmed that SDA supported the adoption of the Budget, although they believe that the increase in already excessively high incomes of state parliamentarians is unnecessary and further deepens the existing gap in incomes. 

The voting record, which has also been publicly published, shows that SDA deputy Šemsudin Mehmedović abstained and did not support such a budget.  

Izetbegović further claims that the adoption of the Budget of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, after continuous multi-year political blockades, will enable the normal functioning of the state and its institutions.

"The Budget will also enable the return of salaries for soldiers, police officers, and other state employees to the level from 2008, which will finally resolve the issue of disproportionate salaries compared to employees at the entity, cantonal, and municipal levels. By increasing the base for salary calculation for police officers, soldiers, and state employees, increased incomes are also foreseen for state deputies, delegates, ministers, and their deputies, which could not be avoided at this moment as it would further postpone the adoption of the Budget," stated Izetbegović.