Battle for Director Begins: SNSD Makes Every Effort to Remove SDA from the OSA Oversight Commission

It was turbulent again today in the building of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina regarding the appointment of the Joint Commission for Oversight of the Intelligence-Security Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (OSA), writes the news agency Patria.

The problem arose because the SNSD wants Nikola Špirić on this commission even though they already have one proposed member, Sredoje Nović. Immediately after their request, which led to a blockade in the work of the House of Peoples, the SDS came forward with claims that Špirić's son works in the OSA and that this would be a conflict of interest.

However, Špirić admitted that his son is employed there, but sees nothing controversial in that, but rather in the fact that “there is a proposal from the collegiums of both houses and that agreed text should have been the subject of a vote in the House of Representatives and the House of Peoples.”

-Unfortunately, the Collegium of the House of Representatives replaced the composition of one commission in which I was proposed, without consulting the other House, and that opened up problems – said Špirić.

Nevertheless, some doubt this statement and say that the SNSD wants to strengthen its role in this commission.

The current director Almir Džuvo has completed his second term, and it is precisely this commission that discusses and gives an opinion on the appointment of the general director, deputy, and chief inspector.

Earlier, the following commission members were proposed: Đorđo Krčmar (SDS), Željko Komšić (DF), Mirsad Mešić (SDP), Sadik Ahmetović (SDA), Vjekoslav Bevanda (HDZ BiH), Damir Bećirović (DF), Safet Softić (SDA), Fahrudin Radončić (SBB), Bariša Čolak (HDZ BiH), Ljilja Zovko (HDZ BiH), Sredoje Nović (SNSD) and Darko Babalj (SDS).

The SNSD insists that Nikola Špirić be a member instead of Sadik Ahmetović, which could significantly affect the election of a new director of one of the most important agencies in the country, because in that case the SDA would lose one position, changing the balance of power in the commission.

What are the commission's competencies

In addition to overseeing the legality of the OSA's work, this commission has numerous other competencies, such as giving opinions on the proposed budget of the OSA, reviewing and monitoring the implementation of the intelligence-security policy of BiH, reviewing laws and other regulations in the field of intelligence-security activities of BiH, and reviewing issues of international cooperation of BiH with other countries and international intelligence institutions.

Furthermore, this commission oversees the implementation of the Law on Protection of Classified Data by institutions of BiH, entity bodies, and bodies at other levels of government in BiH, and reviews reports from the Ministry of Security of BiH and the Ministry of Defense of BiH on issuing permits for access to classified data and security checks.