House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly confirms changes in committee composition: Instead of SNSD, delegates from PDP and SDS enter

(Patria) - The House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, at a session that ended around midnight, accepted the Proposal for a Decision on amending the Decision on the appointment of members of joint committees of both houses of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, whereby SNSD members were replaced by members of SDS and PDP.

With this proposal, in the Joint Committee for Defense and Security, instead of the delegate from the Serbian People's Club, Radovan Kovačević (SNSD), Želimir Nešković (SDS) is appointed; in the Joint Committee for Oversight of the Intelligence-Security Agency (OSA), instead of Nikola Špirić, Nenad Vuković (PDP) is appointed; and in the Joint Committee for Economic Reforms and Development, instead of Snježana Novaković Bursać, Nenad Vuković (PDP) is appointed. Earlier, this decision was made by the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly.

With the same proposal, in the Joint Committee for European Integration, instead of Snježana Novaković Bursać, Nenad Vuković (PDP) is appointed, who will also take a position in the Joint Committee for Administrative Affairs instead of Nikola Špirić (SNSD).

The deputies adopted the reports of the Office for Audit of Institutions of BiH on the financial audit for 73 BiH institutions for 2023, and the Annual Audit Report on the main findings and recommendations for 2023.

Also adopted was an initiative by SDP deputy Rejhane Dervišević, which mandates the Council of Ministers to, when drafting the Law on the Budget of BiH Institutions and International Obligations of BiH for 2025 and all subsequent years, allocate funds of 0.01 percent of the total budget for providing assistance to entities and the Brčko District in cases of natural disasters.

There was no entity majority for the initiative of deputy Šemsudin Mehmedović, which would obligate the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH to mandate the Council of Ministers to conduct all appointments of directors of 28 BiH institutions in accordance with the Constitution and laws of BiH, which establish a proportional national structure of directors of BiH institutions, according to the last census from 2013.

Deputies supported Mehmedović's initiative, which obligates the House of Representatives to mandate the Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Justice to take measures against Josip Merdža, director of the Institute for Intellectual Property of BiH, as a senior civil servant, because for years he has simultaneously performed the function of Secretary General of HNS.

Also adopted was Mehmedović's initiative, which obligates the House of Representatives to mandate the Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Justice to take measures against Marko Kubatlija, director of the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA), a senior civil servant, because in the local elections he was the bearer of the DNS candidate list for the Pale Municipality Assembly.

There was no general majority for Mehmedović's initiative, which sought to obligate the House of Representatives to mandate the Council of Ministers to dismiss Darko Ćulum, director of the Agency for Investigation and Protection (SIPA), because he has more than 40 years of pensionable service, and that according to the law, his employment automatically terminates and he loses the status of a police officer.

An initiative by deputy Šemsudin Dedić was adopted, which obligates the House of Representatives to request from the Fiscal Council of BiH that, in accordance with its competencies and obligations, it adopts the proposed document Global Framework for Fiscal Balance and Policies in BiH.

This is a prerequisite for the preparation and adoption of the Document of the Framework Budget of BiH Institutions for the period from 2025 to 2027 and the Law on the Budget of BiH Institutions and International Obligations of BiH for 2025.

Deputies supported an initiative by deputy Saša Magazinović, which mandates the Agency for Identification Documents, Registers and Data Exchange of BiH (IDDEEA) to draft and submit for procedure amendments to the Rulebook on Driver's Licenses, which will eliminate discrimination based on age and health condition regarding the issuance of driver's licenses.

At the session, consent was given for the ratification of the Agreement between BiH and the EU on cooperation between the competent authorities of BiH for judicial cooperation in criminal matters and the EU Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation.

This concluded the regular session.