TENDER UNDERWAY Lame Council of the Communications Regulatory Agency (RAK) to Elect Director, the "Trojka" Did Not Request to Halt Procedure Until New Convocation is Appointed

The lame Council of the Communications Regulatory Agency (RAK), with only four members out of the prescribed seven, has not yet scheduled a session to review the applications received for the position of Director of the Communications Regulatory Agency.
The mandate of the current director, Draško Milinović, expires in mid-July.

In a phone conversation, the Chairman of the RAK Council, Miloš Šolaja, stated that the tender is closed but they do not know how many applications have been received. The deadline for applications was June 17, and it is possible that some applications were sent by mail.
Three out of the four members of the RAK Council are on the selection committee that conducts interviews with candidates. The RAK Council proposes the General Director to the Council of Ministers, which then confirms the appointment.

According to Patria's information, Milinović is counting on another term at the head of RAK, and the RAK Council has only four members, none of whom are Bosniaks.

The remaining members of the RAK Council are Nino Ćorić, Zoran Tomić, Miloš Šolaja, and Ljubo Božović.

On April 2, this year, the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly adopted the Proposal of the Decision on the Appointment of the Council of the Communications Regulatory Agency (RAK) of BiH, consisting of: Tomislav Volarić, Tanja Andrić, Iza Razija Mešević, Vjekoslav Čerkez, Damir Šehanović, Alma Čolo, and Zoran Žuža, but this proposal has not yet been considered by the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly.

RAK confirmed that the current RAK Council will continue to work until the election of a new convocation of the Council, as long as the new convocation is elected and confirmed in accordance with the legal procedure in the Parliamentary Assembly.

During Draško Milinović's mandate, spouses and family members of SNSD officials were employed at RAK, so a new mandate would be a kind of reward for such cooperativeness.

While Milinović managed RTRs, the Communications Regulatory Agency repeatedly imposed fines on this public service of the RS, which is at the service of the ruling coalition in the RS entity.
After his arrival, no fines were imposed on RTRs despite complaints.

The Communications Regulatory Agency has very important responsibilities prescribed by the Law on Communications: creating and promoting rules in the broadcasting and telecommunications sectors, licensing operators in the broadcasting and telecommunications sectors, planning, managing, and allocating the frequency spectrum, applying technical and other standards related to quality, and establishing and maintaining a system of permit fees.

Although this is one of the most important institutions due to the authority it has in media operations, the "Trojka" parties are not commenting on this tender at all. However, when he was the leader of the opposition from the parliamentary benches, the SDP leader Nermin Nikšić, before Milinović's appointment for his first term, appealed not to appoint him.
If Nikšić did not have the influence to prevent Milinović's appointment then, today, with his partners from the "Trojka", he could have requested this from SNSD, just as they requested the repetition of some other tenders and the appointment of individuals close to them to leadership positions.

If the RAK Council submits Draško Milinović's name to the Council of Ministers of BiH for the position of director, it is enough for not a single minister of Bosniak nationality to vote. In the Council of Ministers of BiH, besides Hurtić, ministers of Bosniak nationality are Zukan Helez (SDP) and the president of Narod i Pravda, Elmedin Konaković.

If the "Trojka" were principled as it claims, it would ask its partners to have the new RAK Council, in its full composition after being confirmed in the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, conduct the election of the new director.

(A. Vrabac)