(Patria) - State MP Šemsudin Mehmedović held a press conference ahead of the House of Representatives session of the BiH PA, where he spoke on several current topics.
He pointed out that the analysis of the Audit Office's report on the financial audit of 73 state institutions for 2024 showed that the total budget execution of Bosnia and Herzegovina institutions in 2024 amounted to almost 1.3 billion KM. For 10 institutions (or 14%), the Office expressed a qualified opinion, indicating significant shortcomings that require urgent resolution.
"This is particularly problematic, and the shortcomings in those 10 institutions are clearly a threat to the transparency, legality, and efficiency of the public sector. In this regard, the Office should strengthen the mechanisms for monitoring the implementation of recommendations, including deadlines and sanctions for inactivity. The analysis also provides recommendations for the future work of the Audit Office, the implementation of which would further increase financial discipline and the efficiency of managing limited public funds.
The financial audit process also resulted in a large number of recommendations given to state institutions. Out of a total of 577 recommendations, 339 are new, while 238 or 45% of the recommendations are repeated from previous years. This indicates a lack of accountability of institutional management for their non-implementation and incomplete application of legal and subordinate regulations, as well as the absence of systemic solutions. The Audit Office has professionally completed its work. However, numerous auditor findings should not remain mere dead letters on paper. The Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina and police agencies should address them, as the auditors have pointed to numerous irregularities that most likely contain elements of various committed criminal offenses," stated Mehmedović.
The largest number of findings in the audit reports for which a qualified opinion or attention was drawn relates, among other things, to weaknesses and shortcomings in the application of the Law on Public Procurement, e.g., violations of valid regulations in the procurement of facilities for the Indirect Taxation Authority, the Border Police, and the Veterinary Office.
"The Council of Ministers approved the procurement of a facility for the Central Office of the Indirect Taxation Authority and its Banja Luka Regional Center. However, the initial value of the facility was 69,400,000 KM and it was increased to 103,400,000 KM. From this, it follows that, at the proposal of the Authority, the Ministry of Finance gave consent to an increase in the value of the multi-year project by 46% of the total value, although the aforementioned subordinate act allowed an increase of up to a maximum of 10%. It is important to emphasize that ten years ago, the value of the same approved project in Banja Luka was 37,900,000 KM.
I also draw attention to the construction of a facility to house the Southern Field Office of the Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Čapljina. In this case as well, the Ministry of Finance gave consent for the project's value to be increased, although the aforementioned Instruction and the 10% limit were in force. The Council of Ministers adopted a Decision at the end of 2024, increasing the value of the said project by 3.5 million KM, or 117%.
It is evident that the Ministry of Finance violated valid decisions and regulations when giving the aforementioned consents, for which the state Minister of Finance Srđan Amidžić and others responsible must answer, which is devastating. And that's not all. The current composition of the Council of Ministers found a "generous solution" for this obstacle in its path. At the proposal of the Ministry of Finance, the Council of Ministers, at its 77th session held on April 22, 2025, amended the aforementioned Instruction and simply deleted the provision from Article 14, paragraph (2) regarding the limitation of the increase to a maximum of 10% of the total value of a multi-year project. So, the solution for the current Council of Ministers is simple: remove what bothers you and do whatever you want," he states.
Mehmedović pointed out that the Audit Office warns and problematizes year after year the employment of a large number of people based on service contracts and for performing duties of another job in numerous institutions. For example, in the Indirect Taxation Authority, as many as 186 people were employed on a fixed-term basis in 2024.
"The Authority has been concluding fixed-term employment contracts since 2007, with short breaks between engagements, often with the same individuals, and without announcing public calls for applications. The same practice has been recorded for years in the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations. Such conduct is not transparent and is not in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Labor in Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the Ministry of Finance, eight people performed duties of another job last year – and half, i.e., 4, were managerial positions of assistant ministers. The valid regulations governing the legal status of civil servants do not provide for the possibility for the head of an institution to assign civil servants to higher-level positions without a competition procedure. Such hiring places suitable individuals in appropriate positions, and what needs to be implemented is done through trusted personnel, i.e., employees. We also witnessed a shameful competition for 3 mentioned assistant minister positions, which was recently concluded by the Civil Service Agency. Serbs were hired for all positions. These two examples alone are evidence of multiple violations of the law. In the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, Minister Košarac allowed employees to use five days of paid leave for religious or traditional needs, not two days as prescribed by law. Minister Košarac clearly violates the law without any consequences. In the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers and the Secretariat of the Parliamentary Assembly, illegal decisions have allowed employees with secondary education, who have since obtained a university degree, to simultaneously perform duties requiring higher education in addition to their own job, in order to gain professional experience. The Audit Office has clearly established that the laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina do not provide for the possibility for employees to be assigned to other positions by a decision of the head of the institution for the purpose of gaining work experience, but unfortunately, it has become normal not to respect the laws."
Mehmedović called on the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina and police agencies to initiate appropriate investigations into these and other numerous irregularities in the work of state institutions that the Audit Office has documented in its reports.
He once again pointed to the gross violation of constitutional and legal provisions concerning the proportional representation of Bosniaks in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"It is my duty to do so, because as time passes, the situation only worsens. Strategic partners HDZ and SNSD continue with rigged competitions for employment in the civil service, and they would not be so successful if it were not for the long-term passivity of Bosniak cadres in institutions, primarily ministers in the Council of Ministers. I call on ministers Helez, Konaković, and Hurtić to finally inform the public about the current participation of Bosniaks in leadership positions and how it is possible that, out of 28 directors, the Council of Ministers has appointed only six Bosniaks. The public must know the precise data on how many hundreds of Bosniaks are employed less than the legally stipulated number in institutions, and how many hundreds of Serbs and Croats are employed more. Let them say what they, as ministers, have done so far and what they intend to do to urgently stop hiring at the expense of Bosniaks, which constitutes their discrimination and elimination from the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina. I especially call on them to inform us about what they will do to prevent appointments to leadership positions in the civil service that strategic partners HDZ and SNSD continue to implement. The laws of this country must be respected! Bosniak ministers must insist on establishing a balance in the civil service in accordance with the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the laws. Bosniaks constitute 50% of the population in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and they must constitute that percentage in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, from leadership to the lowest positions," says Mehmedović.
He added that currently, more than 50% of employees in the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations are Serbs, which is the result of the cooperation between ministers Košarac and Amidžić and the HDZ director of the Civil Service Agency, Anita Markić.
"They prevented Bosniaks from being employed in ministries headed by SNSD cadres. Through rigged competitions, they managed to illegally hire significantly more Serbs than Bosniaks in the 'Sarajevo bazaar' or 'political Sarajevo,' as they affectionately call the capital of their country, even though in every institution, including these ministries, there must be 60% more Bosniaks than Serbs.
Also, in the recently concluded competition for the director of the Secretariat of the HJPC, the head of the cabinet of the Minister of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Davor Bunoza, "excelled." This director position was one of the few very important positions in the civil service that previously belonged to Bosniaks, but since Željko Bogut, secretary of the ministry headed by Minister Bunoza, was a member of the commission, it was known in advance that Bunoza's friend and colleague Ivana Zovko Planinić would not have "worthy" competition. The fact that the long-time director of the HJPC, Admir Suljagić, did not even pass the written exam in the competition, speaks volumes about how unobjective the commission was, which was composed exclusively of those in whom Minister Bunoza had confidence in order to carry out the competition as agreed by HDZ and SNSD. It is an open secret that questions and answers for the "most successful candidate" are prepared in advance for competitions.
It is evident that Bosniaks have become a minority in the civil service, with three of the most important positions filled by persons of Croatian nationality, specifically: the Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers, the Director of the Civil Service Agency, and the Director of the Secretariat of the HJPC. Serbs absolutely dominate positions of assistant ministers and assistant directors. I will repeat and warn again that Bosniaks are left with lower-ranked positions in the civil service, and in numerous institutions, they constitute less than one-third. At the same time, jobs requiring secondary education and unskilled labor are reserved for Bosniaks. In addition to the aforementioned imbalance in institutions at the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina, I want to remind you again of the fact that Bosniaks in the institutions of Republika Srpska (entity, city, and municipal) are employed at the level of statistical error, even though they constitute 14% of the population in Republika Srpska according to the last census. Bosniaks are not in a much better position in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina either. I ask again: "Why is proportionality not applied in Žepče, Stolac, Čapljina, Livno, Kiseljak? Why are Bosniaks not equal and capacitated in municipal, cantonal, and federal institutions?"
In municipal services in Stolac, out of a total of 120 employees, only six are Bosniaks, and in the city administration of Čapljina, out of 212 employees, only two are Bosniaks. Such apartheid was recorded only in South Africa at one time. Dragan Čović and other HDZ officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia have been complaining for years about so-called majorization, while the actual situation is that they are implementing brutal apartheid against Bosniaks in all municipalities where HDZ has a majority.
Croats make up 22% of the population in the Federation, and they are employed in federal bodies in much higher numbers than this percentage, holding ministerial and numerous director positions in institutions that manage huge budgets. At the same time, 40% of Bosniaks live in Stolac, and only 5% are employed in the public sector. Not a single director or deputy director of a municipal service or institution is a Bosniak. Except in the communal and fire services, Bosniaks are absolutely not allowed to be employed in public institutions and public enterprises in this city. HDZ has blocked for eight years the possibility for Bosniaks in Stolac and Čapljina to have a deputy chairperson of the municipal assembly. And now, when they are elected, they are not professionally engaged, because HDZ again does not allow it!
If the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has determined that constitutiveness is the overarching principle of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina to which entities must fully adhere, why are Bosniaks in Stolac, Čapljina, Livno, Kiseljak, and Žepče not constitutive and equal, but have the status of an unwanted minority? Despite this humiliating position of the majority population in the Federation, Bosniak representatives in the entity executive government constantly remain silent and do nothing regarding the long-term apartheid implemented by HDZ, but publicly praise Dragan Čović for good cooperation in the Federation, while Čović's subordinates simultaneously prevent the construction of a cemetery for the Bosniaks of Stolac.
Despite Bosniaks filling the federal budget with more than 80% of the funds, entities with the largest budgets are managed by HDZ officials, e.g., public enterprises Roads of Federation and Highways of Federation, the Environmental Protection Fund, the Health Insurance Institute, the Federal Employment Bureau, etc.
The constitutional principle of proportional representation of constituent peoples clearly stipulates that in leadership positions, as well as in all other positions in the Federation, there must be at least three times more Bosniaks than Croats, which is not respected and to which Bosniak representatives have agreed.
There must be a clear institutional response from Bosniaks, and insistence on their proportional representation in all institutions and at all levels of government. Will Bosniaks continue to finance those who grossly discriminate against and humiliate them?
I once again call on Prime Minister Nermin Nikšić to have the delegation of the Federal Government finally visit the aforementioned municipalities in the Federation and personally see the extent of discrimination against Bosniaks in these municipalities. This apartheid against Bosniaks must be stopped urgently. When injustice becomes the rule, resistance is an obligation," said Mehmedović.
He also expressed support for federal MP Sanel Kajan, against whom several civil proceedings are underway due to lawsuits filed by HVO veteran associations for alleged denial of war crimes. Lawsuits were filed due to statements made by Sanel Kajan within parliamentary discussions, initiatives, and MP questions, i.e., within the scope of his parliamentary mandate!
"I call on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council to urgently determine whether the Court in Mostar is conducting proceedings against Sanel Kajan, who enjoys parliamentary immunity, contrary to the law, and for the Disciplinary Prosecutor's Office to take prescribed measures against prosecutors and judges who, by their actions, violate regulations on parliamentary immunity. When they try to silence an MP like this, what can ordinary people expect?" said Mehmedović.
He reiterated that 11 months ago he filed a criminal complaint with the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina against the members of the Management Board of the Indirect Taxation Authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina on grounds of suspicion that they committed a criminal offense that harmed the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by approximately 370 million KM, to the benefit of Republika Srpska.
"In response to my parliamentary question, Chief Prosecutor Milanko Kajganić stated that the State Investigation and Protection Agency has not submitted a report on the measures and actions taken under the order of the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that the SIPA report will determine the steps to be taken to reach a final decision.
The aforementioned criminal offense continues unimpeded, and the damage to the Federation of BiH is now around 700 million KM. Given that the competent prosecutor has not taken any concrete action in this case, I have filed a complaint with the Disciplinary Prosecutor's Office against prosecutor Bojana Jolović, who is unjustifiably delaying official actions related to the performance of her duties as a prosecutor, as after 11 months from the filed criminal complaint, she has not made a final prosecutorial decision.
Although the Federation has been harmed by hundreds of millions of KM, the HDZ federal Minister of Finance and member of the Management Board of the Indirect Taxation Authority, Toni Kraljević, is doing absolutely nothing to protect the interests of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is necessary for Minister Kraljević to inform the public why temporary coefficients have been applied for two years for the distribution of revenues from the single account for the period July-September 2023, which are more favorable to Republika Srpska, and why the Government of the Federation has not filed a lawsuit against Republika Srpska for a multi-million debt due to illegal distribution of indirect tax revenues," stated Mehmedović.
Komentari (0)
Prijavite se za komentiranje
PrijavaJos nema komentara. Budite prvi!
Minuta
Sve →Iz drugih kategorija
High Representative Not Elected: Germans, French and British Against Americans, New Attempt at End of June
ČOVIĆ WITHOUT MERCY: How Those Who Brought Ademović to Office Created a Political Hell for Him
Sunny Saturday, quite warm
Tragedy in Albanian resort: Two minors drown
