Political wisdom dictated the adoption of the BiH budget, critics are absent from the Movement for the State

By Ernad Metaj

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A big fuss was raised after the budget of BiH institutions for 2022 was adopted. The fact that elections will be held did its part, so politicians, even those who will not give up their own salary increases, rushed to condemn the parties that supported the budget with their votes. Everyone latched onto the, admittedly unnecessary and unjustified, salary increase for politicians by 500 KM, forgetting that BiH received a budget for the first time in two years.

Rationalism won over populism this time, and rightly so, and there are ways to fight against politicians' salaries. Representative of DF Zlatan Begić is right when he claims that they would be equally, if not more, criticized if BiH institutions remained in financial blockade.

To those who are "lighting bonfires", Begić said to think first because without the adoption of the budget, there would be no justified salary increases for state and border police officers, soldiers, Indirect Taxation Authority (UIO) employees, and BiH institutions' staff who have been receiving the lowest salaries among budget users in BiH for years. Critics have generally not supported the justified protests of endangered officials. It should not be forgotten that the budget also planned funds for holding elections.

Not everything is an election campaign; responsible politicians must also take care of the country's defense. BiH is not defended only by populist slogans, especially from those politicians who have been on the budget for decades and who have rarely, if ever, protested the increase in privileges they themselves use, while their salaries remained the same.

We could agree with the independent representative in the BiH Parliament Zlatko Miletić that there is a "gang of greedy people" in the parliaments who need to be punished. Whether his criminal complaint will be effective depends primarily on the judiciary, but what is certainly achievable is their punishment in the elections. Just a few months ago, most of today's critics condemned the blockade of state institutions and the unwillingness to adopt the budget.

The sincerity of critics, as well as those who were willing to face criticism for supporting the budget, can be tested very quickly. Proposed amendments to laws, and even the BiH Constitution, regulating salary increases for elected officials have been announced. Given that delegate from the House of Peoples of HDZ BiH, Marina Pendeš, expressed this party's readiness to participate in this, the injustice can be easily and quickly rectified. Faster and simpler than it would be if the HDZ and SNSD were given justification to continue holding the state in financial blockade by submitting amendments to the budget.

The battle for the state is not over. The election battle follows, and therefore it is important to say that it would be much wiser for Damir Arnaut from Our Party (Naša stranka) to call on people from Republika Srpska to support the Movement for the State (Pokret za državu) as the only alternative to nationalism in that entity. The attitude towards the state is also measured by the fact that there are a number of political subjects, such as Our Party, that have no ambitions in Republika Srpska. The state is not built on only one-third of its territory. This is a wind in the sails of policies that have set out to divide the state. This time, the decisive battle for BiH is being fought in Republika Srpska, and apart from Our Party, neither NIP, to which Denis Zvizdić moved from SDA, is present there, thus directly playing into the hands of SNSD and HDZ policies. For the sake of the state, one must sometimes "swallow a frog", but there must also be a responsible opposition aware of the moment we are living in.