Emergency session of the BiH House of Representatives begins: Five MPs cannot set the agenda, Council of Ministers has not submitted a report

The emergency session of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina has begun, held at the request of SNSD due to the adoption of the Decision of the Agency for Statistics of BiH on the unique program for processing data from the 2013 Census.

Incidentally, no report has arrived for MPs from the Council of Ministers, so members of Parliament are wondering what they will discuss today. There is also a problem because the expanded Collegium has not agreed on the agenda, and there is no consensus among the three members of the Collegium of the House of Representatives of the PA BiH on this agenda.

Right at the start, during the discussion on the agenda, Saša Magazinović (SDP) proposed an amendment to the agenda, adding the item: Information from the Council of Ministers on the obligations undertaken for the arrangement with the IMF.

- I believe the public should know what obligations we have undertaken for this loan. The document should be public and published. There is certainly a reason for urgency as well as justification. It would be good if we received the letter of intent today. It would be good if someone came out today and said whether it states that BH Telecom and HT Eronet will be sold by October – Magazinović emphasized.

Aleksandra Pandurević (SDS) said that regarding the SDP's request, she thinks it is good, because during the SDP's rule they never had the opportunity to see that letter of intent.

- When you are principled, then we can talk about it, if such an initiative comes from someone else, but given that it comes from you, we cannot support it – Pandurević said.

Magazinović replied, saying that you cannot put “we agree, but we cannot support that” in the same sentence.

- Perhaps the problem is that the SDP did not agree to the privatization of BH Telecom. That was back then, but now the time has come for everything to be transparent. I don't know why it's a problem to see what the authorities committed to for that loan – Magazinović emphasized.

Šemsudin Mehmedović (SDA) said he does not know why they were summoned, when they have no written material.

- I don't even see the chairperson. I ask you to prepare this session, because I do not want us to engage in political bickering today without any materials – Mehmedović said.

Željko Komšić (DF) emphasized that he supports the request of the SDP Club and believes that the request should be expanded to see all previous arrangements and how they were signed.

Šefik Džaferović (SDA) said that the session was convened based on Article 68 of the Rules of Procedure, which clearly states that, exceptionally from a regular session which implies consultations of the Collegium, such a session can be convened when there are justified reasons.

- We are now getting the same situation based on these emergency sessions, even though we know the stance of this House on that matter. I will not propose removing this agenda item, because it will not get a majority, but I ask the chairperson, for the sake of the work of this Parliament, to put your proposal for holding this session to a vote – Džaferović said.

Mladen Bosić, Chairperson of the House of Representatives of the PA BiH, said that according to the Rules of Procedure, the chairperson must schedule a session within three days.

- This is a topic that has stirred passions. It is not only a professional but also a political decision that has been made. Therefore, I made the decision to discuss this – Bosić said.

Damir Arnaut (SBB) said that this agenda must be put to a vote, because five MPs cannot impose an agenda on this House.

- You have the right to convene a session, but you cannot impose the agenda on us – Arnaut emphasized.