FBiH Budget Proposal for 2016 First Goes to Test Vote in the House of Peoples

The budget proposal of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2016 will be presented to the representatives of the Federal Parliament on December 22, confirmed for the Bosnian news agency Patria from this house.

It is surprising that the FBiH Budget Proposal will be presented to the delegates of the House of Peoples of the PFBiH before that, on December 17. Those who follow parliamentary procedures know that in this case it is a reversed procedure for adopting legal acts. It is not illegal, but, judging by the unwritten rules of parliamentary work, it is backwards!

A high-ranking employee in the Federal Parliament revealed to Patria that the ruling coalition partners SDA, HDZ BiH and SBB fear that the FBiH Budget Proposal for the next year could fail in the House of Peoples due to a narrow majority. It is precisely for this reason that they started adopting the FBiH Budget Proposal for 2016 in reverse order: first the House of Peoples, then the House of Representatives.

Namely, if the Budget Proposal fails in the House of Peoples on December 17, five days later it will pass in the House of Representatives due to the absolute majority of coalition partners in this house, and in the meantime, SDA, HDZ BiH and SBB will secure the necessary number of votes in the House of Peoples, which will adopt the Budget Proposal at the first next session, likely to be held before the New Year.

Representatives in the Parliament of FBiH earlier adopted the Draft Budget of FBiH for 2016, which amounts to 2,533,862,123 KM and is 7.9 percent higher compared to last year's budget.

Around 1.1 billion of the Budget will be spent on repaying the debt of the Federation of BiH, nearly a billion is needed for current expenses, while only a smaller portion of money will remain for development projects in the budget.

Prime Minister Fadil Novalić himself said that the Federation budget for 2016 is not of a developmental type.

SDP and DF, as well as several smaller parties in the House of Representatives of the PFBiH, voted against such a budget, warning that it cannot bring the necessary reforms in FBiH. They demanded more money for development projects, writes NAP.