SBB and PDA hold TK government hostage to crime, laws are broken and changed to save indicted individuals

By Ernad Metaj

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The parliamentary majority in the Tuzla Canton today voted to include amendments and additions to the law on secondary and primary education on the agenda of the Assembly session. The problem is that these amendments aim to allow individuals against whom an indictment has been confirmed to continue working in education. It is interesting that the amendments to the law are not proposed by the relevant ministry but by the parliamentary majority.

- It is questionable whether this is in line with the rules of procedure because the law is proposed either by the ministry or by a deputy by name. This way, no one signs and people hide behind the majority, and it is clear to everyone in TK why these amendments to the law are being made, Mahir Mešalić from DF told us briefly.

His appeals, primarily to the SDP, to stop such a law and cease being a tool for bargaining by people of questionable morals from SBB and PDA have not yielded results. Patria previously wrote about irregularities in employment, after which an indictment was confirmed against Jasenko Smajić, Omer Delalić, and Adisa Mehić, because they favored the employment of the wife of a Tuzla firefighter "who starts political fires," Nedžad Hamzić. Everything becomes clearer when it is known that Hamzić is the president of SBB Tuzla and the president of the party's parliamentary group in the TK Assembly. To make the absurdity even greater, Hamzić was also appointed president of the Commission for the Fight against Corruption.

Hamzić is not the only elected official in this story. Omer Delalić is a councilor in the Tuzla City Council, and his SBB is part of the majority led by the Social Democratic Party.

In August 2018, a tender procedure was conducted, after which Amela Hamzić was hired indefinitely. Although she had a secondary vocational education, and her competitors had higher education, she did not meet the formal requirements because she did not have enough work experience in positions similar to the one she applied for.

- Acting contrary to the provisions of the Rulebook on conditions and criteria in the employment procedure in public institutions of primary and secondary education in TK, which prescribes procedures and candidate assessment, they did not conduct interviews in accordance with regulations, and they entered incorrect data in the minutes of the conducted interviews for several candidates with higher education regarding the method of awarding points, and they awarded the maximum number of points to a candidate with secondary vocational education, thereby placing her in a more favorable position on the candidate ranking list. Based on such a list, the school principal made the decision to hire this candidate, preventing other candidates from participating equally in the tender procedure - it is stated in the statement of the Cantonal Prosecutor's Office of TK.

The TK Prosecutor's Office proposed that, along with the verdict, a security measure prohibiting the exercise of a profession, activity, or function for a period of five years be imposed, and that the employment contract concluded between the school and the employee be annulled.

Instead of suspending the suspects during which they receive a larger part of their salary, which is foreseen by the current law, it was obviously easier to change the regulations. The fact that it is not the proposer does not absolve the relevant minister Elvis Baraković either, because the question arises who will teach the children in TK. By saving the party soldiers of SBB, a Pandora's box is opened whereby a teacher who hit a child's head against a blackboard, which happened tomorrow, can come to work without problems.

- In short, these amendments would, for example, allow teachers with confirmed court indictments to have less criminal responsibility, to continue working with children without temporary suspension for certain criminal offenses punishable by up to five years in prison. Which in practice means that, for example, professors, teachers, and educators against whom an indictment would be confirmed under Article 172 of the Criminal Code of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for causing serious bodily harm or under Article 219 of the Criminal Code of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina relating to the abuse of a child or minor, there would be no penalty of suspension and removal of such an educator from the teaching process. These are just some examples. All such villains who tarnish the honorable profession of an educator would effectively be amnestied from crimes and would work unimpeded until a final verdict from the competent Court, the pronouncement of which takes an average of two to eight years, Mešalić wrote on his Facebook profile earlier.

No one is thinking about collateral damage. SBB and PDA are used to indictments and skillfully use the situation by blackmailing the rest of the coalition by overthrowing the majority. On the other hand, saving Hamzić and his proteges is linked to the cover-up of election theft that also benefited partners at the municipal level.

However, that story is not over because the FUP is conducting an investigation, and according to Patria's findings, Hamzić is finding it increasingly difficult to explain the inconsistencies that lead to the Municipal Election Commission itself.

Before today's session, SBB and PDA dragged their partners into yet another scandal. They forced them to agree that Alen Kamerić, whose diploma is questionable, would be appointed director of UKC. The majority in TK also ignored the minutes of the federal inspection, which pointed out a series of irregularities in the appointment of UKC management. Besides the director, the deputy and the Supervisory Board are also controversial.