Independent Board Reviews Criminal Records of Candidates for FUP Director

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The continuation of the interrupted 10th session of the Independent Board of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (NO PFBiH) will be held this afternoon to continue the procedure for the election of the director of the Federal Police Administration (FUP), which has been vacant since the resignation of Dragan Lukač at the end of January, after Lukač officially retired. 

The Independent Board will, at the continuation of the session, review the subsequently requested documentation for all eight candidates, after which it will be known whether all candidates remain in the race for FUP director. The competent police stations were asked for criminal records, as well as records from the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund (PIO) regarding years of service, to prevent a situation where, in the middle of the mandate, some candidate meets the conditions for retirement. Such a case also occurred with Dragan Lukač, and investigative authorities are conducting checks on all matters. 

The President of the Independent Board, Sead Bardak, told Patria that after reviewing the documentation and determining whether everything is in order, the candidates will be asked to submit a work program for the FUP during the mandate period, for which they will have a deadline of eight days. Interviews will be scheduled with all candidates on the same day, after which the Independent Board will compile a ranking list to be forwarded to the Minister of Interior of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Eight candidates applied for the position of director of the Federal Police Administration: Zoran Čegar, Head of the Uniformed Police Sector of the Federal Police Administration; Ivica Bošnjak, Deputy Director of the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies; Ensad Korman, FUP officer; Zoran Galić, Director of the Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina; Mustafa Hujdurović, FUP inspector; Milan Galić, current Police Commissioner of the West Herzegovina Canton; Ljuban Frljić, Head of the Operational Center of the Ministry of Interior of the Central Bosnia Canton in Travnik; and Robert Perić, Head of the South Čapljina Field Office of the Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Given that the current Minister of Interior is Bošnjak, the Law on Internal Affairs of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina stipulates that the director cannot be of the same ethnicity, meaning that only candidates from the Croat community remain in the running. 

If a Croat is elected as director of the Federal Police Administration, it means that the future Minister of Interior of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot be a Croat. 

In February of this year, Ensad Korman was appointed as deputy.