KS Government Reshuffle on Hold: Uk Admits 'Conditionality' for Votes in KS Assembly, Can He Remain Premier?

By Amra Vrabac

The reshuffle of the Sarajevo Canton Government, less than six months after its appointment, is no longer in question. What is in question is the number of ministers who will not be in the reshuffled Government.

Narod i pravda (NiP) is, as confirmed for Patria, satisfied with the work of its ministers and has no intention of changing anyone. NiP has four ministers in the current KS Government (Naida Hota-Muminović, Omer Osmanović, Admir Katica, and Zlatko Mijatović). SDP also has four ministers (Kenan Magoda, Haris Vranić, Enda Pavić-Pečenković, Adnan Šteta), Naša stranka has Prime Minister Nihad Uk and two ministers (Darja Softić-Kadenić and Pavle Krstić), and Stranka za BiH (Almir Bečarević and Emir Dedović). It is precisely these two ministers that the 'trojka' wants to remove from the KS Government, and a new parliamentary majority has already been formed. This will likely be evident at tomorrow's continuation of the KS Assembly session.

However, what is causing a headache for the 'trojka' is the method by which the reshuffle will occur. The simplest way would be for the ministers to resign themselves, after which Prime Minister Uk would submit new proposals. But they will not resign. The second option is for Prime Minister Uk to resign, which would cause the entire KS Government to fall. In that case, the deadlines for forming a government are somewhat longer, and that does not suit them. The third option is to proceed according to the Rules of Procedure of the KS Assembly with the dismissal of ministers who have not acted in accordance with the constitution, laws, and general acts of the KS. However, all points adopted by the KS Government so far have been adopted unanimously. This means that the entire government has not been working in accordance with the law, which actually complicates the whole story.

An additional burden for the 'trojka' are the internal relations within the parties, which are also reflected in the KS Government itself. For example, Naša stranka has lost a deputy who moved to become an independent. This is Redžo Lemezan, who is now a free agent. Thus, Naša stranka has four deputies in the KS Assembly, raising the question of whether it can hold the prime ministerial position with such capacity, while Narod i Pravda, for example, has seven deputies, with at least two more aligned with them. Naša stranka is prepared to give up the minister of science and higher education, Pavle Krstić, and it is precisely this portfolio that the other independent deputy, Damir Marjanović, wants. He already has a candidate ready from the movement For New Generations.

NiP previously spoke about concessions they made in KS to get the KS Government, but that the situation is now changing. Thus, in the new KS Government, NiP could also get another ministry, and even the position of prime minister is being mentioned.

Regarding SDP, although their ministers have the support of the SDP Cantonal Committee, headed by Adnan Šteta, a claim has emerged that the minister of health, Haris Vranić, will not be in the reshuffled government. Minister Vranić told Patria that he will not resign, but he is clearly aware that there are centers of power that decide on his ministerial position.

However, the worst part of this whole story is that political trading has largely begun. Thus, the director of Sarajevogas has already been changed, which is heavily influenced by Damir Marjanović and Redžo Lemezan. Marjanović's ZNG has two out of three members of the Supervisory Board of that company and has confirmed himself that he requested and received a list of vacant positions in this company for which a competition has been announced. Such a relationship between parliamentary deputies and cantonal companies is unusual, so a case has been formed based on documentation forwarded to the KS Prosecutor's Office by the Office for Combating Corruption and Quality Management.

Prime Minister Uk himself confirmed the entire story about political trading during his guest appearance on N1 on September 7, when, in response to the host's statement, “they are conditioning you, asking for positions so they can give you their votes, and now you will let go of two people who worked well and bring in others to have a majority in the Assembly,” he said, “unfortunately, you have put it together more or less well.”

Deputy Redžo Lemezan also tried to deny the stories of evident political trading, responding to the statements of Minister Bečarević, who was the first to announce such political trading and reported it to the Office, about which he also informed the public.

Thus, Lemezan first tries to explain that he received his mandate from Naša stranka, and that it was quite logical to respond to the 'trojka's' invitation for negotiations regarding the reshuffle.

“Radically changing the bloc and giving the other side an opportunity overnight would be lying to the voters who have trusted me for years. Although I could find a thousand and one reasons to start negotiations with the other political party, although, to be honest, Nihad Uk's government is not working nearly as well as the previous one, I do not believe that after 180 days of poorer work, the idea should be changed, only a few individuals, and I decided to enter into negotiations with the 'trojka' and, with the people who did a good job last term, try to find a solution to get the engine of the Government and the Sarajevo Canton Assembly running. If I am a political trader after responding to the 'trojka's' invitation, even though negotiations are not yet finished, imagine what I would be if I had accepted the invitation for negotiations from the other political bloc,” Lemezan said.

So, according to Lemezan's interpretation – he is negotiating with the 'trojka', and if he had started talks with SDA, it would have been political trading.

It is true that in a short period, Stranka za BiH has also lost two deputies who will be part of the new majority. Their demands are not yet fully known, and it seems that the male part has 'taken on' the more difficult task of negotiating the number of ministries.

Although the 'trojka' parties expect negotiations to conclude early next week, the option that the current government will remain for some time longer is not excluded.