FBiH Parliament adopted only 8 out of 90 planned laws in the first half of 2017

The Center for Civil Initiatives today presented a monitoring of the work of the Government and Parliament of FBiH in the first six months of 2017, reports Patria News Agency.

Problems in relations between parties that form the parliamentary majority in the Federation of BiH, during the first half of 2017, manifested in the form of non-adoption of the Annual Report on the Work of the Government of the Federation, non-acceptance of the Report on the Execution of the Budget for 2016, the rejection of laws that the Government sends to the parliamentary procedure, and public manifestations of mutual distrust and intolerance.

The authorities show insufficient capacity to create a functional system, ensure political stability, as a basis for any economic progress, and to address the serious problems of citizens and society. All talk about reforms, agendas, and EU integration is slowly fading. In the end, only mutual accusations of those most responsible for this situation remain.

After falling from 1645 measures considered in the first half of the previous year, 2016, to 1123 measures considered in the second half of that year, the Government in the first half of 2017 not only failed to increase productivity again, but even considered ten fewer measures.

Only 2% of the total implemented measures fall into those measures that can systematically, in the long term, improve the quality of life of citizens. Of course, provided they are implemented qualitatively. Or at all. 

If we look at the example of laws determined by the Government, which become functional only when the Parliament adopts them, and whose effects citizens can feel only after a certain period of implementation, the situation is as follows: The FBiH Government determined 31 laws in the first half of 2016, of which 22 were proposals. Of these 22, Parliament adopted only - 6 in the same period! This means that Parliament significantly slows down the implementation of measures adopted by the Government and postpones or jeopardizes potential positive effects they may bring.

IN THE TOTAL MASS OF MEASURES IMPLEMENTED BY THE GOVERNMENT, STRATEGIES REPRESENT ONLY 3 PER MILLE

Those 3 per mille are, in fact, 3 significant strategies: the Strategy for Debt Management of FBiH, the Strategy for Public Finance Management Reform, and the Strategy for the Development of the Wood Industry of FBiH for the period 2016-2025. On the other hand, the FBiH Government entered the second half of the year with as many as 7 unrealized strategies from the Work Program for this year. 

In the first half of 2017, the FBiH Government determined only 18 laws from its work program for this year. This means that it has 78 more to determine by the end of the year. Which is completely unrealistic, of course.

Official data warn of an excessive number of employees in public administration, and on the other hand, we have a shortage of qualified personnel who can and know how to complete the process of preparing laws and strategies, which is a serious problem. Especially for a country on the path of EU integration and high demands precisely in the context of harmonizing domestic legislation with that of the European Union.

In summary, for the repayment of part of the debts and related interest from the Federal Budget for 2017, one billion and 289 million KM will be allocated, which is almost half of the total budget, i.e., 47%. Moreover, in the last 2 years alone, the debt of the Federation of BiH has increased by almost 312 million KM, not including cantonal debts. 

WHILE THE GOVERNMENT CONTINUES TO NOT APPLY ANY SIGNIFICANT SAVING MEASURES ON ITSELF, IT DRASTICALLY CUTS ALREADY MINIMAL EXPENDITURES FOR THE MOST VULNERABLE CATEGORIES OF THE POPULATION

The fact that the allocation for the employment of Roma has been reduced from last year's 90,000 KM to 10,000 is a scandal in itself. 

This primarily refers to the preparation of some significant legal solutions in the field of finance, labor, and the preparation of long-awaited strategies, etc. Given CCI's continuous commitment in this area, we highlight the adoption of the Law on Amendments to the Law on Labor in the Federation of BiH, which provides fairer and more effective protection of workers' rights, facilitates and speeds up the process of collective bargaining, and reduces the possibility of eventual abuses. The law has not yet fully passed the parliamentary procedure.

THE GOVERNMENT CONTINUES TO VIOLATE THE LAW ON GENDER EQUALITY.

In the current FBiH Government, women head only 4 out of 17 ministries, which is inconsistent with the Law, which precisely defines equal representation as a situation where neither gender is represented in a given institution by less than 40%.

The Government and Parliament of the Federation of BiH, as of June 30, 2017, have over 20 different laws on their list that they must amend or adopt completely new ones in order to effectively implement most of the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH and the Constitutional Court of the Federation of BiH.  Unfortunately, many of them have been waiting for implementation for years.

This situation indicated the necessity of adopting clear rules and procedures for acting on decisions. In this regard, the FBiH Government determined and sent to the parliamentary procedure in May 2017 the Draft Law on the Implementation of Court Decisions, which regulates the procedure for implementing decisions of constitutional courts, with the aim of their faster and more efficient execution. However, the aforementioned law has not yet been considered by the Parliament of the Federation of BiH.

THE CRISIS IN THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE PARTIES OF THE RULING COALITION IN THE FEDERATION OF BIH HAS THE MOST DRAMATIC IMPACT ON THE WORK OF PARLIAMENT

In the first half of 2017, there were no blockades as serious as the four-month non-convening of the House of Representatives in the second half of 2016, but disagreements were almost permanent and manifested in various ways.

Due to the aforementioned disagreement, the 3rd thematic session was not even concluded in the first half of 2017, while the conclusions proposed at the 4th thematic session received the necessary majority thanks to the votes of opposition party deputies. 

Thus, Parliament realized only 17 laws in 6 months of 2017. All 17 laws were realized during the first 3 months of 2017.

Out of the 90 laws that, according to the Work Program, need to be adopted in 2017, only EIGHT were adopted in the first 6 months of this year! Therefore, to realize its plan for this year, Parliament would need to adopt almost twice as many laws each month until the end of the year as it adopted in the entire first 6 months of 2017. 

The House of Peoples has not yet adopted it in its proposal. And the House of Representatives adopted its work program for this year on April 25, 2017. So, quite late.

The Law on Amendments to the Law on Games of Chance was rejected in the House of Peoples of PFBiH, as was the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance of FBiH, and twice at that; The Report on the Execution of the FBiH Budget for 2016 was rejected in the House of Representatives of PFBiH.

THE REPORT ON THE WORK OF THE FBiH GOVERNMENT FOR 2016 DID NOT RECEIVE SUPPORT IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES EITHER - DUE TO INSUFFICIENT PRESENCE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PARLIAMENTARY MAJORITY AT THE SESSION AND DURING VOTING.

The report did not receive support even after repeated voting, although deputies from some parties not part of the parliamentary majority also voted in favor. After the lack of support for the annual report on the work of the Government for 2016 in the House of Representatives, a precedent was set, so the Report on Amendments to the Report on the Work of the FBiH Government for 2016 was sent for procedure, but it also did not receive the necessary majority, this time in the House of Peoples, again due to insufficient presence of representatives of the parliamentary majority at the session and during voting.

AT THE END OF THE FIRST HALF OF 2017, 23 DEPUTIES IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SUBMITTED AN INITIATIVE TO VOTE NO CONFIDENCE IN THE FBiH GOVERNMENT.

The proposal was not accepted at the session of this house held in July. However, regardless of the Government's stance on this proposal, we note that, given the fact that neither the report on the work of the FBiH Government nor the Report on the Execution of the FBiH Budget for 2016 were accepted by Parliament and the evident poor results in the implementation of planned laws and the stagnation on the reform path, this initiative was completely legitimate (and in line with the practice of developed democratic countries). And the decision of the majority to "close ranks" and stand behind their Government in such a situation was, of course, legitimate.

What CCI wants to use this opportunity for is to once again point out the unacceptability of the situation where the Election Law of BiH does not provide for the possibility of calling early elections, which forces citizens to be hostages of dysfunctional coalitions and their focus on party rather than citizen interests.

THE CENTERS FOR CIVIL INITIATIVES RECOMMEND TO THE GOVERNMENT AND PARLIAMENT OF FBiH:

It is necessary to increase the efficiency of both institutions in the second half of 2017 and the remaining part of their mandate, especially in the implementation of laws and strategies.

We also emphasize the need for the Government and both houses of Parliament to start preparing key documents for their work in the coming year in a timely manner, in order to adopt their work programs and the Budget for 2018 on time. 

Both institutions should focus their work on the key problems of citizens and their resolution. And stop insisting on narrow party and personal interests, and on blocking the work of institutions.

We also warn about the obligation to respect and implement laws and the Constitution. And about the unacceptability of their violation by state institutions. And about the need to establish a mechanism of individual responsibility in this context.

We also emphasize the need to increase social sensitivity within institutions. And to align the incomes and privileges of politicians with the general situation in society. But also to start saving from themselves and not from the most sensitive and unprotected categories of the population - stated the CCI.