After Four Years of Work, MPs Now Discuss Quorum for Work and Decision-Making

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Members of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, after four years of sessions, and some even longer as it is not their first term, are discussing how many representatives are needed for decision-making.

Ambiguities arose after representatives of SNSD and DNS refused to participate in further work of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH due to the fact that their initiative to dismiss the Minister of Security of BiH, Dragan Mektić, was removed from today's agenda.

Some representatives claimed that there is no "quorum for decision-making" given that a sufficient number of representatives from the BiH entity of RS are not attending the session. Further confusion was caused by the delay of the Collegium of the House of Representatives of the PSBiH, Borjana Krišto, who later appeared in the State Parliament hall.

Representative Damir Arnaut stated that the BiH Constitution does not contain any "quorum for decision-making," but only a quorum for work, which existed even without the representatives from SNSD and DNS. The Head of the SDS Caucus, Aleksandra Pandurević, said that there is an authentic interpretation from the OHR, and from it, one can conclude that there is no quorum for decision-making at today's session.

Deputy Speaker Šefik Džaferović stated that all conditions for the work of the House of Representatives of the PSBiH exist today, given that there is a quorum. He proposed to suspend all discussions and continue with the work.

Representative Momčilo Novaković cited provisions of the Rules of Procedure of the House of Representatives of the PSBiH, stating that today's session should not continue because decisions, i.e., laws, cannot be adopted. His claims were disputed by Arnaut, who said that all conditions for decision-making have been met, emphasizing that Novaković is not citing all provisions of the Rules of Procedure.

Five representatives from the Republika Srpska attended today's session: Sadik Ahmetović, Aleksandra Pandurević, Jovan Vukovljak, Mladen Bosić, and Momčilo Novaković.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives of the PSBiH, Mladen Bosić, said that he simply cannot believe that, just before the end of their term, representatives are discussing how decisions are made in the House of Representatives of the PSBiH.

He was joined by representative Sadik Ahmetović, who said that after almost four years in office, state parliamentarians decided to discuss how decisions are made at the last session of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, after a series of adopted decisions and laws.

The Head of the HDZ Caucus, Nikola Lovrinović, pointed out that today's discussion leads to the conclusion that a minimum of five delegates from the RS and ten from the FBiH are required for work, and that this proves that Croats have no say in anything. After this statement, Lovrinović requested a half-hour break.