Mechanical technician, doctor of medicine 'served' deputies Vukoja, they have no right to choose, only to (not) confirm!

(Patria) - The main public preoccupation today is the session of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation, which includes the item Election and Appointment, within which the deputies will vote on the (non)confirmation of Marin Vukoja as a judge of the Constitutional Court of BiH.

He is the top-ranked candidate for this position, and on February 13, 2023, the Working Group conducted interviews with the candidates, where scoring was also performed. In the end, and after all the twists and turns and constitutional and unconstitutional actions, Vukoja will be the only one proposed today, which means that the deputies cannot choose a judge, but rather confirm Vukoja or not vote for him.

The months-long saga arose because Vukoja is close to the HDZ, and in 2019 he was also a candidate of the HNS, governed by HDZ leader Dragan Čović, for a delegate in the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Later, problems due to the fact that the Commission for Election and Appointment sends only a proposal with one name to the deputies further complicated this process.

But the real question is how Vukoja ended up in first place among ten candidates?

The scoring of the candidates, and thus Vukoja in first place, was done by the members of the five-member working group, which consisted of federal deputies Mladen Bošković (HDZ), Irfan Durić (NES), and Rasim Smajlović (NiP) as members of the Commission for Election and Appointment, and judges Hakija Zajmović and Božana Banduka as members of the Association of Judges of FBiH.

Therefore, we present the biographies of the members of the Working Group that determined Vukoja as the top-ranked candidate below.

MLADEN BOŠKOVIĆ

Born on May 21, 1958, in Crnići, municipality of Stolac. He completed elementary school in Crnići, high school in Čapljina, and the Faculty of Medicine in Sarajevo. He completed his specialization in Internal Medicine in Zagreb. Member of HDZ BiH, Vice-President of HDZ BiH, member of the Cantonal Board of HDZ BiH, and President of the Municipal Board of HDZ BiH Stolac. Married, father of three children.

IRFAN DURIĆ
Born on November 1, 1964, in Cazin. Mechanical technician. Since 2011, he has been a member of the Executive Board and Vice-President of the Sports Association of the Municipality of Cazin. He has been a member of the Executive Board of the Football Association of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2010, where he currently serves as president. At the Electoral Session of the General Assembly of the FA/FS BiH, held on December 22, 2016, he was elected a member of the Executive Board of the FA/FS BiH.

RASIM SMAJLOVIĆ

Born on December 12, 1987, in Brčko. Graduated from the Faculty of Law.

HAKIJA ZAIMOVIĆ

Served as bankruptcy judge at the Municipal Court in Sarajevo. He retired and is now practicing law.

BOŽANA BANDUKA

Former president of the Municipal Court in Kiseljak. She is currently a judge in the Criminal and Misdemeanor Department of the Court in Kiseljak.

All candidates were asked two identical professional questions. Scores were given from one to ten. The report of this working group does not state how each person voted or scored the candidates. However, it is known that Vukoja received 46.5 points, and immediately behind him was Sanela Gorušanović-Butigan with 45 points.