Session of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of FBiH continues after a break on March 4

(Patria) - The continuation of the tenth regular session of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina will be held today after the session was adjourned on March 4, before the adoption of the agenda. At that time, only the mandate of the newly appointed representative Franka Leko was confirmed, who took the oath and assumed office.

The adjournment occurred because there were not enough votes for the proposal that the Deputy Speaker of the House, Mladen Bošković, who opened the session on March 4 and led it almost until the adjournment, remain in that role until the end of the session instead of the resigning Speaker Mirjana Marinković Lepić.

Such a conclusion for Bošković to lead the session did not receive support even after the vote or after individual voting. Short consultations followed, and Bošković announced that the session would be adjourned, but that before that, at least the mandate of the new representative Franka Leko from the ruling Croatian Democratic Union of BiH should be confirmed, replacing her party colleague Ivo Vincetić whose mandate had expired. The opposition claimed that the legitimacy of her mandate could be questionable if Bošković presided over that part as well, so the ex officio Speaker, Mirjana Marinković Lepić, took over the leadership of that part of the session, and then Leko took the oath of office.

The SDA stated at the time that they believe the real reason for the adjournment of the session was that the SDA would seek, outside the proposed agenda, the adoption of the law on the South Interconnection gas pipeline of BiH and the Republic of Croatia, which that party had proposed and submitted to the parliamentary procedure under urgent procedure.

- Instead of adopting this legal solution, which is crucial for improving the energy stability of the Federation of BiH and diversifying gas supply sources, and instead of considering other acts related to improving the standard of living, business environment, and security situation in FBiH, the ruling majority prioritized narrow party interests. The adjourned session also fully exposed the baselessness of the current government's previous excuses, with which they justified constant work stoppages and inefficiency, which they tried to blame on the opposition and alleged obstruction in the work of parliamentary committees – stated the SDA Representatives' Club at the time.

For the tenth regular session, the proposed agenda is the same as it was on March 4. One of the newly proposed federal laws provides for a non-working day on Sundays and holidays for workers in trade - shopping malls and other retail outlets. The Government of the Federation of BiH would have the option to determine, by its decision, which retail outlets are obliged to work during holidays and to what extent.

The law proposing these provisions is currently in the form of a draft, which means that its eventual entry into force is unpredictable in time, as it could be sent for public debate before its potential final adoption in both houses of the Federal Parliament.