KS Unions Warn FBiH Party Leaders: Don't Hide Behind MPs

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Ahead of the session of the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament to be held on January 24 and 25, which will include the Proposal for the Law on Amendments to the Law on the Allocation of Public Revenue in the FBiH, the Coordination Board of Veteran Organizations of Sarajevo Canton, the Coordination Board of Persons with Disabilities of KS, the Sarajevo Canton Police Union, the Union of Primary Education and Upbringing of FBiH - Cantonal Board of Sarajevo Canton, the Union of Secondary and Higher Education, Upbringing, Science and Culture of BiH - Cantonal Board of Sarajevo Canton, and the associations "Give Us a Chance" and "Three Plus" have issued a statement. Their representatives held a meeting.

They warned all political actors about the consequences of abolishing the 2-point coefficient for Sarajevo Canton, which will paralyze processes in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sarajevo Canton.

"We call on the presidents of parliamentary political parties Bakir Izetbegović (SDA), Nermin Nikšić (SDP BiH), Fahrudin Radončić (SBB), Edin Forto (NS), and Elmedin Konaković (NIP) to publicly state their party's position on this issue, and not to hide behind MPs who want to return to their constituencies and boast about having harmed Sarajevo and taken millions of KM from Sarajevo. At a time of the greatest attacks on the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an attack is also being carried out on the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as is clear from the positions of the HDZ, which eagerly awaits taking millions from Sarajevo, thereby weakening the capital and transferring that money to areas controlled by the HDZ.

MPs from other regions are knowingly telling their citizens untruths and promising them milk and honey just if they take millions from Sarajevo. The truth is different. What cantonal governments have not done with hundreds of millions of KM increases in their budgets in recent years, just as they have not increased the rights of citizens in those cantons, they will not achieve even with the 10 million KM they would steal from Sarajevo.

Irresponsible politicians are knowingly spreading the spin that Sarajevo is taking someone else's money, when the truth is that Sarajevo Canton would have more money by any economic criterion than it has today.

We support the initiative to adopt a new Law on the Distribution of Public Revenue, to correct injustices towards certain parts of BiH, and to create preconditions for even more efficient collection of direct and indirect taxes. We believe that the process initiated by individuals does not solve systemic distribution problems and brings Sarajevo Canton to the brink of bankruptcy.

The proposed Law is being passed by force of votes in the FBiH Parliament without economic arguments and serious parameters.

We remind that the FBiH Government gave a negative opinion on the Law in question, and economic experts and analysts are warning daily about the negative consequences that will follow if the Law is adopted. We ask all political parties, MPs, and delegates in the FBiH Parliament to understand the seriousness of the situation and stop this bullying process!

We ask the FBiH Government to URGENTLY send a new Law on the Distribution of Public Revenue into procedure and start resolving this issue. We remind that Sarajevo Canton pays by far the largest amount of funds into the Joint Revenue Treasury, of which less than 15% of the paid funds are returned to the Cantonal budget.

We welcome the idea of registering large public companies in other cantons and decentralizing some other processes. We remind that weighting in favor of other cantons is already happening in the areas of road construction, employment projects, and some others where significantly larger amounts of funds have been allocated to other cantons.

Of all this, the most terrible thing is the fact that by abolishing the 2-point coefficient for Sarajevo, the amount of paid funds is completely disregarded, and cantons where fiscal accounts are never even seen are rewarded! This proposal suits those cantons the most. If you do not understand the seriousness of the situation, we will be forced to call on the authorities in Sarajevo Canton to abolish market and other inspections that control the issuance of receipts, and other radical measures to protect the system!

Your children, who today have free education at Sarajevo universities and schools, will also bear the burden, as free study will be abolished for them, and tuition fees will be many times higher.

Without any political overtones, we warn all actors on the political scene that we are closely monitoring the behavior of all MPs, listening to the arguments, and making judgments.

Adopt a new Law, listen to the experts, and improve the system," the statement concludes.