Korman remains at the helm of FUP for a while longer, Independent Board postpones decision on new director competition

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Independent Board of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been postponing a decision on announcing a new competition for the director of the Federal Police Administration for months, after the FBiH Government at its session on July 8, 2021, voted for all candidates from the ranking list, but no candidate received the necessary support.

Although it was expected that such a decision would be made at yesterday's session, this did not happen, and it is reportedly expected that everything will be concluded at the session in February when the text of the competition will also be determined. The postponement of this procedure is linked to the current political situation, although the Independent Board should be completely independent in its work, but it is clear that the ruling parties in the FBiH have different views in this process as well.

We recall that the FBiH Government initially received the ranking list of candidates in April 2019 after the Independent Board completed the procedure, but in June of that year, the Government adopted a conclusion prolonging the selection of the FUP director until a new FBiH Government was formed, so that it would not affect the selection of the FBiH Minister of the Interior because the FUP director and the minister cannot be from the same constituent people.

Only at the session on July 8, 2021, when it became clear that there would be no new FBiH Government, they voted on each candidate individually. No candidate received the necessary majority, and the top-ranked Zoran Galić received five votes from ministers of the HDZ BiH, which to this day insists that he be appointed director. Galić even sued the FBiH Government for not appointing him to this position.

The entire situation surrounding the selection of the head of the FUP is somewhat confusing because the minister and the director cannot be from the same constituent people, so it is unclear what the new competition procedure will bring, especially since a new FBiH Government should be formed after the General Elections. If the FUP director is elected while the current government is in office, this could be a Bosniak, as the Minister of the FBiH Ministry of the Interior, Aljoša Čampara, is a Bosniak, but this will then affect the selection of the future Minister of the Interior, who in the next government will not be able to be from the same constituent people as the FUP director.

Incidentally, the FUP has been led by Ensad Korman during this period since the director position became vacant. At yesterday's session, the Independent Board accepted the Report on the work of the Federal Police Administration for the period January – December 2021, as well as the Report on the work of the Deputy Director, Ensad Korman, for the fourth quarter of 2021.

The members of the Independent Board are: Mirko Milićević (President), Sead Bardak, Amar Hadžiomerović, Enes Bezdrob, Zdenko Kovač, Branimir Orašanin, and Elfada Gutić.