SDP: Izetbegović confirmed that SDA's only goal is to control budgets

The Cantonal Organization of the Social Democratic Party of BiH Sarajevo considers the claims of SDA President Bakir Izetbegović that the current Government of Sarajevo Canton "sat on the budget that we (SDA) left them" to be insolent towards the citizens of Sarajevo Canton, and indeed the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"We call on Bakir Izetbegović to explain to the citizens his statement about the budget of Sarajevo Canton, which is now managed by the legally and legitimately elected Government of Sarajevo Canton. We demand that Izetbegović precisely define the revenue budget items into which SDA or Bakir Izetbegović personally paid money, not the citizens of this canton. It is obvious that Izetbegović, consciously or unconsciously, confirmed what SDP has been claiming for decades, and that is that SDA treats budgets as its own coffers from which they can take whenever and however much they want. This is evidenced by numerous reports and court proceedings against SDA cadres, who most often used the budgets of municipalities, cantons, and other levels of government, all for the purpose of their personal enrichment.

It seems that for SDA and Bakir Izetbegović, the biggest problem is precisely that the current Government of Sarajevo Canton treats the budget of this canton as the property of its citizens, and not as private spoils or the property of any individual or party. For this reason, the Public Register of all employee incomes in public administration has been published, funds have been secured for financing kindergartens for every child in Sarajevo, and a series of capital infrastructure projects have been initiated, on which SDA did not want to spend 'its' budget. This is an ideal opportunity for SDA to learn transparency in political work, which the Government of Sarajevo Canton has been implementing for almost a year now," the SDP announced.

Finally, the SDP states that they hope "that SDA will finally mature in awareness and understanding that Bosnia and Herzegovina is not a feudal state of a few beys, but a democratic state in which citizens elect government institutions that should serve the interests of those citizens, and not that citizens serve for enrichment and service to 'rulers'."