Corruption, nepotism, arrests are a reflection of the "Trojka": Nothing can be built on bad foundations

By Amra Vrabac

If Nihad Uk were an honorable and honest man with a sense of responsibility towards the citizens of Sarajevo Canton, he would resign today because he heads a government that has had two arrested ministers in the last six months suspected of abuse of office and corrupt activities.

But since Nihad Uk has no previous job, nor anywhere to return to because he renounced his mandate in the KS Assembly for the prime minister's chair, and morality is a fluid category in this government anyway, he will remain in his position and torment himself and all of us until the next scandal or new elections.

A few days ago, an employee of the KS Assembly was also arrested for involvement in drug production and trafficking and is in custody. The official car of the KS Assembly was also searched.

Scandal after scandal simply follows the "Trojka" parties (SDP, NIP, NS) and their associate ZNG.

When the "Trojka" parties promised prosperity to the citizens of Sarajevo back in 2018, and formed a government on the wings of these false promises, like any house with bad foundations, the "Trojka" began to crumble like a house of cards. If they had only stayed in Sarajevo Canton, perhaps the damage could have been repaired, but two years ago they took power at the FBiH and state level, so the consequences are much more serious.

Mutual accusations, tensions, trading, but also internal problems within the "Trojka" parties had to surface at some point.

Everything they accused the previous government of, the "Trojka" parties have demonstrated themselves. Party employment, rigged tenders, allocation of budget money to godfathers, newly formed associations, incompetent staff with fake work experience, dubious diplomas, ignoramuses who have managed to destroy even what was functioning – this is the reflection of the "Trojka" today.

Therefore, these arrests should not surprise anyone. The order in which the KS Prosecutor's Office proceeds is a question of priorities within that judicial institution, but there is certainly no shortage of reports of abuse and illegality.

The first mistake the "Trojka" made was appointing Nihad Uk as head of the government, who has neither the authority nor the knowledge to manage the system that is Sarajevo Canton. The second mistake of the "Trojka" was expelling the Party for BiH, which was eliminated six months after the formation of the KS Government at Elmedin Konaković's request. And then, also at Konaković's request, ZNG of Damir Marjanović, Konaković's strategic partner, was brought into the government.

That government held on by a thread for some time with constant turbulence, ups and downs, until the arrest of minister Bojan Bošnjak from Naša stranka, when things started to go downhill, and ministers in the government began to wonder who would be next.

We have not forgotten that affair either, as the investigation is nearing its end, followed by the arrest of Adna Mesihović and her assistant for illegal employment.

Numerous reports are still in the drawers of the KS Prosecutor's Office, both against ministers in the KS Government and against cadres of these three parties.

In all of this, it should not be forgotten that the "Trojka" has dismissed only a few officials in public institutions due to irregularities, and among them, there have been as many as two dismissals of directors of the JU Dom zdravlja KS in the past two years.

After the arrest of the former director of KJKP Rad Nijaz Salamović (NIP) and members of the company's Supervisory Board, there was also a change at the head of the company, and dissatisfaction culminated in VIK as well, which is in financial deficit and with blocked accounts, so there was a rotation in the director's position there too.

And while NIP received another position in the KS Government, the position of Minister of Communal Economy, even after almost a month since Bošnjak's dismissal, they have not found a candidate to sit in the hot seat.

And so it could go on for days listing everything that is wrong with the KS Government, but as I said, building something on wrong foundations can never end with an extension but only with demolition.