Šepić gathers leaders to support the Law on Balanced Development and Distribution of Public Revenues

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Law on Balanced Development and Investments in the Territory of the Whole of BiH and the Law on Distribution of Public Revenues in the FBiH have long been a topic of disagreement and differing views among political parties, and even among politicians within a single party. 

This is an issue where the division along national lines falls apart, as most cantons, both those with a Bosniak majority and those with a Croat majority in the FBiH, are together on one side. 

There have been several attempts so far to make these changes, and the furthest went and the loudest in the BiH Parliament was representative Senad Šepić, who, as early as the beginning of 2014, launched an Initiative for the adoption of the Law on Balanced Development and Investment in the Territory of the Whole of BiH. Šepić claimed then that all citizens, in any part of BiH or canton, must be ensured approximately the same tax return, and thus ensure a similar offer of public services. The BiH Parliament then adopted this initiative, but afterwards the executive branch, the Council of Ministers, never wanted to apply this principle and prepare regulations that would ensure this. 

A mother on maternity leave, a police officer, a teacher, and a doctor, in the territory of the whole of BiH, should have the same status and income, advocated Šepić, then a representative of the SDA, and after leaving this party, as a representative of the Independent Bloc, in 2018 he submitted and lobbied for the same idea. 

Besides him, particularly active and vocal on this issue was the so-called Tuzla Initiative, launched and led in early 2015 by Professor Vedad Pašić from the Faculty of Economics in Tuzla, who, based on concrete indicators and statistics, presented the inequality between various cantons in relation to tax return and the amount of the so-called weight, which made some cantons quite privileged compared to others. Through his advocacy, he managed to 'force' all representatives from the Tuzla Canton, from all parties, but also some others from other cantons, to jointly submit a proposal for amendments to the Law on the Allocation of Public Revenues of the FBiH. 

Unfortunately, once the party headquarters got involved, the 'unity and principle of those representatives' collapsed, and thus the chance for BiH to get a fairer distribution of revenues and development of BiH was lost at that time. 

However, as the Patria Agency learns, this initiative and the interest to finally resolve this issue is alive again, actively working on it is the leader of the Independent Bloc, Senad Šepić, who is gathering leaders who want changes in BiH, to jointly sign and submit these amendments to the parliaments. This would show that they truly support the whole of BiH, want integration and development of every part of BiH, and do not support the policy that turns Sarajevo into a 'Republic of Sarajevo', or the policy of 'a municipality worth more than ten others', nor policies that say 'a resident of Sarajevo is worth twice as much as a resident from other cantons.' 

"Such statements and short-sighted, selfish policies are certainly not the views nor are they in the interest of the majority of citizens, residents of the capital of our country, which has the capacity, but also the obligation to show breadth and openness towards every meter and corner of BiH. That is why the initiative being worked on is very important for consolidating the political scene in our country, for resolving this, but also many other issues and changes in BiH," said Šepić.

Next week, new meetings and talks will be held, at which a joint approach on this issue would be agreed upon.