Initiative launched to abolish lump-sum payments for state parliamentarians

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Mirjana Marinković-Lepić, a deputy of the Our Party, has submitted an initiative to amend the Rules of Procedure of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH.

The proposed amendment to Article 12 of the Rules of Procedure more clearly defines the exercise of rights to salaries and other compensations, in accordance with the Law on Salaries and Compensations in BiH institutions, the Our Party announced.

"The existing text regulates the labor law status of an employee in the Parliamentary Assembly. The employee has the right to a salary and other compensations in accordance with the law and decisions of the Joint Commission for Administrative Affairs, while all deputies have the right to a parliamentary lump-sum payment and compensation for certain material expenses. In this way, the right to salary and compensations is regulated only for those deputies who are in an employment relationship, and it explicitly emphasizes that those who do not have this status also have the right to the lump-sum payment. The proposed amendment reads: The deputy has the right to a salary and other compensations in accordance with the law. The goal is to bring parliamentary compensations within the legal framework, i.e., to prevent their determination by internal acts of the Joint Commission for Administrative Affairs. This is the first step towards abolishing the lump-sum payment and revoking the Commission's authority to dispose of significant budgetary funds," explained Mirjana Marinković-Lepić.

This initiative was submitted in the previous convocation of the PS BiH by deputy Maja Gasal-Vražalica, but it was not considered before the end of the mandate. In order to continue the procedure, deputy Marinković-Lepić took it over, given that the initiative is in line with the program principles and pre-election promises of the Our Party, the party's statement says.