NES needs the USK Assembly only to adopt the budget, Ružnić won't spare money for votes!

By Ernad Metaj

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The crisis in USK, where the current government is increasingly struggling to secure the Assembly's support, is much more complex than Prime Minister Mustafa Ružnić's populist interpretation that everything resembles Dodik's SNSD's behavior, which blocks the work of BiH institutions while their deputies receive salaries. At the insistence of Ružnić's NES, the director of the USK Health Insurance Fund was dismissed, which led to the loss of support from an NIP deputy, and the new director has already resigned.

This is a message to Ružnić and NES that not everyone is willing to follow orders and spend budget money according to party wishes just for a position. According to Patria's findings, pressure was exerted on the new director to favor certain lobbies because NES is not too concerned about the majority. They don't need Assembly sessions until the budget is adopted, and they are counting on securing the votes to "buy" the necessary support. NES will not spare any expense for this, as the budget is planned to ensure victory in the elections.

Deputies from SDA and five independent deputies, who again cannot speak with one voice, did not attend the last session. The Assembly is in a stalemate, and due to the illness of an SDP deputy, a quorum for any session is uncertain.

SDA and NES could change the situation if they implemented the principles from Herzegovina in Krajina, where they signed a cooperation agreement. The problem with Krajina is that personal relationships take precedence over party ones. Another realistic option would be for SDA to secure a majority with SDP. The problem with this is the decisions of the higher SDP bodies that a coalition with SDA is not acceptable. At the local level, signals are coming from SDA to SDP that they are willing to give them the position of prime minister. These offers are difficult to take seriously because SDA has previously shown that it does not stick to agreements, even when it proposes its own candidate for prime minister.

On the other hand, SDP will have to protect its own interests because, through the position of Assembly Speaker, and despite its goodwill, the USK Assembly is being blamed for NES's sins. According to the opposition, this is manifested through the prime minister's ability to withdraw any item from the Assembly's collegium that he does not want to be publicly discussed. There is much that Ružnić wants to avoid. The public needs an explanation for the losses in "Šume" (Forests), the debts of the cantonal hospital, and the delays in resolving the problems of the Health Center... It is time for Ružnić to draw a line and account for the use of over a billion marks of budget and extra-budgetary funds.