House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly on National Representation in BiH Institutions: Bosniaks Hold Fewer Positions Than They Are Entitled To

(Patria) - An emergency session of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly will be held on 29 July. Although the request for its convening was submitted as early as 8 May, the Speaker of the House, Denis Zvizdić, delayed holding this session.

The first item on the agenda is the Consideration of data on the ethnic representation of employees in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina – causes and consequences of the non-implementation of the Constitution and laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina which established proportional representation of constituent peoples and Others in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This item was proposed by MPs Jasmin Emrić, Ermina Salkičević-Dizdarević, Elvisa Hodžić, Šemsudin Mehmedović and Aida Baručija.

In the material submitted to the MPs, 74 institutions at the BiH level were analysed, and Bosniaks are in imbalance in 62 institutions, considering the number they are entitled to according to the laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Particularly concerning is the fact that in higher-ranking positions, which are managerial and better paid, there are significantly fewer Bosniaks, but there are more of them in positions of employees with secondary education, which obscures the total number of employees and the actual situation.

Since the new composition of the Council of Ministers of BiH was appointed in January 2023, a significant imbalance has occurred in numerous institutions to the detriment of Bosniaks, both in terms of employment and internal advancement within institutions. This is especially visible in nine state ministries, but also in some institutions that employ several hundred people.

Regarding employees from among the Others, it is concerning that the number of senior state and police officers who declare themselves as Others is nowhere near the number prescribed by law, and that in many institutions there is not a single employee from among the Others. Some institutions stated in their responses that their employees do not wish to declare their ethnicity.

In the Ministry of Security of BiH, which was headed by Nenad Nešić until December 2024 when he was arrested, and then the deputy minister Ivica Bošnjak took over the management, out of 32 people who established employment during that period, 28 are Serbs. Bošnjak requested the hiring of new employees. A similar situation exists in the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations and the Ministry of Finance and Treasury, which are headed by SNSD cadres.

In the Ministry of Justice of BiH, led by Davor Bunoza (HDZ), the number of Croats and Bosniaks is almost equal.

The only example where national balance is respected is the Central Bank of BiH, where 50 percent are Bosniaks, 31 percent Serbs, 16 percent Croats, and 3 percent Others.

In the Ministry of Transport and Communications, headed by Edin Forto, out of six senior officials, only one is a Bosniak. Forto stated in one of his responses that expertise comes before ethnic affiliation, raising the question of whether there are not enough qualified, capable and educated Bosniaks who can be employed in this ministry.

Out of a total of 4,081 employees in 28 institutions for whose appointments the Council of Ministers of BiH is responsible, Bosniaks lead institutions that have 339 employees, or 8%. Serbs and Croats lead institutions that have 3,742 employees, or 92%. The budget of these 28 institutions for 2024 amounted to 330 million KM. Bosniaks lead six institutions with a budget of 51 million KM, while Serbs and Croats lead 22 institutions with a budget of 279 million KM.

In 13 state institutions whose seat is in the BiH entity of Republika Srpska, out of 3,045 total employees, only 1,165 are of Bosniak ethnicity. Bosniaks are underrepresented in 361 positions, while Serbs are overrepresented in 296 positions, and Croats in 109, and a certain number of employees from among the Others are also missing.

A particular problem is the police agencies, which are staffed according to the 1991 Census, which should be changed given that we have a valid 2013 Census. However, regardless of this, in SIPA, for example, there have been more Serb employees than Bosniaks for a year now. All three state police agencies lack employees from among the Others.

Due to this situation, the MPs requested the introduction of a moratorium on hiring and appointments to institutions in order to determine the state of national representation and to proceed with respecting the BiH Constitution and the law on proportional representation.

This week, at a press conference, Jasmin Emrić and Šemsudin Mehmedović spoke about these data, and the session should be attended by ministers in the Council of Ministers of BiH together with the Chairwoman Borjana Krišto, as well as directors of certain institutions.

On Tuesday, it will be seen who truly wishes to adhere to the BiH Constitution and the laws of this state, and who will have urgent obligations and thus will not even attend the session.