Competition or: Radončić claims - the best candidate will be the director of SIPA, but Stanić has no chance

SARAJevo, (Patria) - As early as December 6, the Council of Ministers of BiH adopted a Decision on the dismissal of the Director of the State Investigation and Protection Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (SIPA) Perica Stanić, effective December 4, 2019, after being informed of the Ministry of Security's Information on the termination of the director's mandate.

A new director has never been appointed, despite the fact that the Independent Board of the PSBiH conducted the selection procedure and submitted a list of the most successful candidates. Given that the Council of Ministers was not formed, this appointment was postponed. However, it is unclear, and the new Minister of Security Fahrudin Radončić did not wish to reveal it, whether the competition will be annulled or if the selection will be made from the existing list.

"That is a matter for the ruling parties in the Council of Ministers, I do not expect problems, and rest assured that the best candidate will be chosen," Radončić said in response to a question from Patria journalists about what will happen in this case, noting that the issue of the Director of the Security Intelligence Agency also needs to be resolved.

Radončić reminded that the Independent Board was faced with the problem that some candidates would meet the retirement criteria during their term.

"This concerns Perica Stanić, who, according to my information, is already in the Republika Srpska," Radončić said.

However, it was precisely Perica Stanić, an SDS cadre, who received the highest number of points on the ranking list. The new ministers from SNSD do not want him in the position of SIPA director, so the choice will likely be between the second-ranked Darko Ćulum and the third-ranked Žarko Laketa. Both are close to SNSD. To recall, Goran Zubac, the former convicted director of SIPA, was not even on the list of successful candidates, although he applied for this position.