Salihović sends prosecutors: Severance pay, separation allowances, and meal allowances of MPs under scrutiny

State prosecutors have entered the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the request of the Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, Goran Salihović, the Parliament of BiH has been asked to provide voting lists of MPs from sessions of the Administrative Committee where decisions on the retirement of parliamentarians were made, reports the Patria news agency. 

In a move unprecedented in parliamentary practice, the Prosecutor's Office sees nothing objectionable. They say that based on a report, they are investigating who among the MPs obtained severance pay and pensions, and in what manner, before returning to their seats.

The Prosecutor's Office of BiH has also taken an interest in the retirement of SNSD MP Dušanka Majkić, who immediately returned to full-time employment. Even those who were among the first to criticise this move do not approve of the Chief Prosecutor's action, believing it violates their parliamentary immunity. This was confirmed in an ATV show “1 na 1” by Momčilo Novaković, a member of the Administrative Committee from the Alliance for Change, whose vote also ended up in the Prosecutor's Office.

-In the case of Mrs. Majkić regarding her retirement, the Prosecutor's Office requested in writing from the Administrative Committee to provide them with the voting record. If a Prosecutor's Office does this, you can imagine how much trust you can have in the knowledge of those people dealing with it. This is unprecedented in parliamentary practice, said Novaković.

Novaković does not hide that he abstained during the vote because he believes Majkić abused the law, but he does not see what the Prosecutor's Office has to do with voting lists. Dušanka Majkić thinks the same; she is not intimidated by the Prosecutor's Office's action. She claims she obtained severance pay, pensions, and MP salaries legally and is protected by a decision of the Constitutional Court.

-The Club of MPs from the RS previously complained that after retiring, they continued working without compensation. Following that complaint, the Constitutional Court issued a decision. Given that everything is backed by a Constitutional Court decision, I believe this significantly eases the situation, emphasised Dušanka Majkić, an SNSD MP in the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH.

Majkić also claims that the Prosecutor's Office's action is scandalous and says she is only accountable for her votes to those who elected her. While the Prosecutor's Office is also checking allowances for transport, hot meals, separate living, and other privileges of BiH parliamentarians, they doubt any of this will result in a court epilogue.