SDP: It is a complete lie that anyone's salary has been increased in the FBiH Parliament

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - SDP BiH issued a press release stating that the information about salary increases in the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament is completely false.

"Regarding the malicious and false information presented to the public by the portal 'Slobodna Bosna' and other SDA media outlets, that the salaries of the parliamentary majority representatives have allegedly been increased, we wish to express our strongest condemnation and denial of these claims," the SDP's denial states.

The party emphasizes that it is a "complete lie that anyone's salary has been increased in any way in the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament, including the representatives of the parliamentary majority.

"All salaries have remained exactly the same, and representatives, club leaders, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives have identical coefficients, and thus salaries, as their predecessors from the previous convocation had.

In accordance with the Law on Salaries and Allowances in FBiH Authorities, which has been in force for almost ten years, all representatives have the same coefficient of 7.8, as do club leaders with 8.2, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives with 9.8.

The only truth is that the SDA and HDZ, ever since they left the constitutive session of the House of Representatives on November 27, 2018, due to the election of Elvir Karajbić as Speaker, have been completely boycotting and obstructing the work of this legislative body. All political entities have long since formed their clubs and submitted notifications about it, except for the SDA and HDZ, which is why their coefficients remain at 7.8.

The obstruction is best reflected in the fact that the president of the temporary administrative commission, and also the Vice President of FBiH, Melika Mahmutbegović, refuses to accept the fact that Elvir Karajbić is the new Speaker, and with her decision of December 14, she treated him completely illegally as a representative, which is an unprecedented scandal and a classic abuse of office, about which she was warned by the competent services. After she refused to convene a session of the administrative commission, the session was convened by the deputy president in accordance with the rules of procedure.

Therefore, all club leaders in the FBiH Parliament have the same coefficient that the SDA club leader Ismet Osmanović had in the previous convocation, and Speaker Karajbić has the same coefficient that his predecessor Edin Mušić from the SDA had.

What is also true is that the FBiH Government, led by the SDA and HDZ, by recently increasing the base from 315 to 330 KM, has effectively increased the salaries of all representatives and ministers from 2019 onwards, which the SDP will try to prevent with an amendment to the budget, seeking a reduction of 15 million KM that they have planned for salary increases.

This would also be a continuation of the policy of our government, led by Nermin Nikšić, which saved over 120 million KM on the salaries of politicians and administration during its term by reducing their base," the SDP's statement reads.