Competition for FUP Director and Deputy Director Closes Next Week, Munjic Retires Without Disciplinary Sanction

(Patria) - The public competition for the Director and Deputy Director of the Federal Police Administration closes at the end of next week. After the first competition did not receive enough applications, as there were not three applications for each position, the Independent Board of the FBiH Parliament announced a new competition. However, this time, one application per position is sufficient.

In the previous competition for the Director of the Federal Police Administration, there were two applications (Igor Marić and Bare Pršlja), as well as for the Deputy Director of the FUP (Vahidin Šahinpašić and Bare Pršlja). According to Patria's information, Šahinpašić will reapply for the Deputy Director position and is ready to leave the State Investigation and Protection Agency.

Yesterday, the Independent Board held a reporting session, and the Federal Minister of Internal Affairs, Ramo Isak, joined for a part of it. After the session, Isak went to SIPA for questioning under the order of POSKOK.

The Independent Board had previously ordered the initiation of disciplinary proceedings against Vahidin Munjic, who was subjected to restrictive measures preventing him from performing the duties of acting Director of the Federal Police Administration in the context of the "Spengavanje" affair. However, it is evident that the initiation of proceedings was delayed, and Munjic is retiring at the end of this month, which will lead to the suspension of the disciplinary proceedings. This means he will receive severance pay and benefits as stipulated by law, despite being under investigation and subject to restrictive measures.

The Special Department of the Supreme Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina extended the restrictive measures for Munjic, police officer Muhamed Ohranović, who is also retiring, the Director of the Police Academy Vraca, Ervin Mušinović, and the Head of the Cabinet of the Federal Prime Minister, Arijana Huseinović-Ajanović.

After restrictive measures were imposed on Munjic, the management of the Federal Police Administration was taken over by Enes Zeljković, who is also retiring soon, making the appointment of new FUP leadership a priority.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the FBiH has sent a Proposal for Amendments to the Law on Police Officers of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the parliamentary procedure, which allows police officers to remain in service regardless of retirement conditions. The validity of this law is planned until December 31, 2027.

However, this proposal does not have the support of the trade unions, and they have called on deputies not to support it. The Security Commission has also requested that a new proposal for amendments and a new Law on Internal Affairs of the FBiH be drafted.

At the same time as lobbying for the adoption of this law, the same interest groups wanted to prolong the process of electing the new Director and Deputy Director of the FUP, and even to have the new competition annulled.

Given that the FUP has not had a director since 2019, and a deputy director since 2023, and considering all the developments within the FUP, it is now up to the Independent Board to complete the interviews and ranking of candidates in the first half of February. The list will then go to the FBiH Government, which ultimately appoints the Director and Deputy Director of the Federal Police Administration.

The only obstacle is that the Director and the Minister of FMUP cannot be from the same constituent nation.