PARLIAMENT AMENDING LAWS: Almost no candidates for FUP Director and Deputy, is this favouring individuals close to HDZ?

(Patria) - The Government of the Federation of BiH, at today's session in Sarajevo, chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister and Federal Minister of Development, Entrepreneurship and Crafts Vojin Mijatović, upon the proposal of the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs, determined the draft laws amending the Law on Police Officers of the Federation of BiH and the Law on Internal Affairs of the Federation of BiH. Both draft laws will be sent to the parliamentary procedure under urgent procedure.

Regarding the Law on Internal Affairs of the FBiH, the adopted amendments remove the provision that stipulated that at the time of announcing the public competition and during the mandate, a candidate for the Director and Deputy Director of the Federal Police Administration does not meet the conditions for retirement.

The explanation from the FMUP states that due to the specifics of promoting police officers to higher ranks, which is done only for vacant positions and specific promotion procedures, the situation has arisen where no police officer with the rank of Chief Inspector in the Federal Police Administration meets the conditions to apply for the competition for the Director and Deputy Director of the FUP, as they will meet the conditions for retirement during their mandate, and according to the Law on Police Officers, employment is terminated for a police officer by automation.

The Federal Ministry further states that a similar or identical situation exists in most cantonal ministries of internal affairs with police officers who meet the rank requirements, i.e., can be candidates for the Director or Deputy Director of the FUP.

Amendments must be adopted by the Parliament of FBiH

Otherwise, the FUP has been without a director for years, and since last year, it has also been without a deputy director who managed the FUP, forcing the Government of FBiH to extend the acting director's mandate.

Due to the situation with the absence of the Independent Board since August 2022, a competition for the FUP Director cannot be announced. The application procedure for members of the Independent Board is underway, and the competition for the Director will only be announced after the Independent Board is constituted. The entire procedure will take several more months.

What has long been an open secret is that HDZ is demanding the position of Director of the Federal Police Administration from the 'Trojka' parties. The Law on Internal Affairs specifies that the Minister of the MUP of FBiH and the Director of the FUP cannot be from the same constituent people, but it does not state anywhere that if the minister is Bosniak, the director must be Croat.

According to information available to Patria, HDZ has found a candidate for the FUP Director. This is Ivan Brkić, the current police commissioner of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of West Herzegovina Canton. Given that Brkić's official biography cannot be found on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of West Herzegovina Canton, it is possible that Brkić also does not meet the conditions for candidacy if the legal provisions are not changed as proposed by the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Otherwise, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of West Herzegovina Canton is a breeding ground for police cadres close to HDZ. The former police commissioner of this Ministry was Zoran Galić, from where he was appointed Director of the Border Police of BiH, then attempted to become Director of the FUP, and then was appointed Deputy Director of SIPA. Ultimately, he became a wanted fugitive because he illegally fled Bosnia and Herzegovina to Croatia and evaded arrest on the order of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH for the criminal offense of receiving a gift while he was the Director of the Border Police of BiH.

The Law on Police Officers of the FBiH establishes the conditions for the termination of employment for a police officer. One of the conditions for termination of employment is when a police officer meets the conditions for acquiring the right to a pension. Given that the termination of employment of a police officer, as stipulated in Article 122, point 3 of the Law on Police Officers of FBiH, is not harmonized with the provisions of the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance of FBiH, it is necessary to amend this provision of the Law on Police Officers of FBiH so that the exercise of rights of police officers, i.e., the exercise of rights and pension and disability insurance, can be realized in accordance with the valid regulations governing this matter.

The Draft Law determined today amends Article 122, point 3, in such a way that a police officer's employment is terminated upon reaching the age of 65 and at least 15 years of insurance period, or at least 20 years of pensionable service, or upon reaching 40 years of insurance period regardless of age, except for a police officer appointed as the Director of the Police Administration or Deputy Director of the Police Administration, whose employment is terminated upon the expiry of their mandate in accordance with the Law on Internal Affairs of FBiH.