PREMIER, MUP, ECONOMY: Division of portfolios and desire for the same positions have stalled the formation of the new KS Government

By: Amra Vrabac

Although there are no formal legal obstacles to forming the KS Government, five political parties have "gotten stuck" on the distribution of portfolios and positions. At least two political parties are interested in the same portfolios.

Five parties have a stable parliamentary majority of 24 votes (NIP-7, SDP-6, Our Party-5, Party for BiH-5, For New Generations-1), and the leaders of these parties and negotiation teams have not yet reached a final agreement. Given that the same parties are in coalition with HDZ and SNSD and are forming governments at the federal and state levels, they have linked the process of establishing the KS Government to higher levels of government. In KS, political parties have not yet signed any coalition agreement.

The only reason why there is still no new KS Government is the distribution of positions and the fact that some individuals would prefer positions in the FBiH Government or the Council of Ministers of BiH.

Although two ministers in the KS Government have won mandates in the KS Assembly and the Federal Parliament, they are not in a conflict of interest according to the Election Law, nor according to the Law on Prevention and Suppression of Corruption in KS. Unfortunately, the laws do not address the moral responsibility of political parties for one person to hold multiple positions, regardless of the legal possibility. Although we remember some earlier cases where individuals held up to three positions, it seems that no one minds now.

The Minister of Justice and Administration, Darja Softić Kadenić, explained to Patria that two ministers of the KS Government are not in a conflict of interest and that the Law on Prevention and Suppression of Corruption in KS does not apply to them regarding dual functions.

"This is an exception explicitly provided for by the Election Law of BiH. Since the ministers are ministers from the old government and have been elected to the new assembly/parliament, they remain ministers until a new government is formed, without being in a conflict of interest, because it is not possible otherwise. Our cantonal law also recognizes these legally permitted cases of "dual functions" in Article 5 as exceptions. In principle, this overlap period should be very short; unfortunately, in our case, the formation of government always takes longer, but that is a completely different problem," stated Softić-Kadenić.

Edin Forto and Adnan Šteta have renounced their mandates in the KS Assembly, and substitute mandates have been assigned instead. Although it was expected that Forto would once again be the KS Prime Minister, as things stand now among the political parties, Forto is no longer interested in this position but rather in a position in the Council of Ministers of BiH. However, Our Party does not want to give up the position of Prime Minister. Due to the election results, the Party for BiH, whose president Semir Efendić received the largest individual number of votes for the KS Assembly but refused the mandate, is also seeking this position from its coalition partners. Furthermore, two parties cannot agree on who will take over the Ministry of Internal Affairs of KS, as well as the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Communal Economy, Infrastructure, and Construction.

Compared to the current KS Government, SDP should receive more ministries, and People and Justice fewer.

Regarding the start of the application of the Law on Prevention and Suppression of Corruption in KS from January 1st, the Office for the Fight against Corruption and Quality Management will determine and decide on cases of conflict of interest.