DISMISSALS AND ARRESTS ANNOUNCED: Police agencies and OSA part of electoral spoils, no talk of depoliticization

(Patria) - The appointment of heads of three state police agencies – the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies, the State Investigation and Protection Agency, and the Border Police of BiH – has been on hold for months, awaiting a political agreement on forming the government. Although the highest-ranked candidates are already known, new political combinations have apparently stalled this process as well. It doesn't matter that the mandates of directors and deputies have expired, and that the law does not allow a third term, since some have already served two terms in the same positions.

The processes of selecting police chiefs are politicized, even if we only look at the final act of voting in the Council of Ministers of BiH. When political parties negotiate the distribution of portfolios, police agencies and the Intelligence-Security Agency are automatically included.

The agreement to be signed on November 25 by Nermin Nikšić, on behalf of eight parties (SDP BiH, Naša stranka, NIP, SBiH, NES, PDA, Za nove generacije, and BHI Fuad Kasumović), with HDZ BiH President Dragan Čović, will commit to the "modernization, depoliticization, and personnel and material improvement of the work of security, intelligence, and police bodies in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in accordance with the applicable constitutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina."

In a country where institutions, including police agencies, are viewed as electoral spoils and divided along ethnic lines, there can be no talk of depoliticization. The appointment of members of the Independent Board, which conducts the candidate evaluation procedure, is also a political process. Although members of the Independent Board cannot be members of political parties, it is clear that they are proposed by politicians to whom they are close.

The latest competition for three state police agencies attracted more or less well-known names, and some candidates should only rotate positions and agencies. For years, they have been appointed by politics.

Let's take Zoran Galić as an example, the director of the Border Police of BiH, who has served two terms in this position and is now awaiting appointment as deputy director of SIPA. A few days ago, Galić was officially a member of the HDZ BiH delegation during a visit to Zagreb, and he is a regular guest at "gatherings of the HDZ political family." In the past, Galić used a doctorate diploma and even signed with the title, but since it turned out to be illegal, he decided to remain just a graduate lawyer. However, investigative bodies did not deal with that diploma.

It is also true that the director of OSA, Osman Mehmedagić, whose mandate has also expired, is close to the SDA and SDA President Bakir Izetbegović, who during the election campaign called him an "anchor" that he holds firmly. His diplomas were dealt with by investigative bodies and courts.

If the eight-party coalition and HDZ BiH truly want to depoliticize police agencies, then HDZ BiH should never again seek the position of director of the FUP. Since 2019, there has been a saga over the appointment of a director, with HDZ insisting on Zoran Galić.

If politics did not control the processes and have loyal people in police agencies, then politicians themselves would be easy targets, and in a country like BiH, that would mean the end of many political careers if the rule of law were to function at full capacity.

"If we form a government at the state level, we will dismiss the head of OSA. The eight-party coalition will not remain at the head of OSA. Whether he will be arrested before that – it's not for me to say," said Nermin Nikšić during an appearance on Face TV at the beginning of November.

Elmedin Konaković, president of NIP, made similar claims, adding that arrests would also begin.

The question is how politics can announce arrests in advance, unless it already knows that it will have control over police and judicial institutions. Isn't that a continuation of politicization, or is it about "depoliticization from the SDA"? But then that process must be extended to those who were in power, which are the future partners of the eight-party coalition.

The wish list of the eight-party coalition and HDZ, and most likely SNSD as well, is long, but in most things, unenforceable.