Špago: Those who previously called the budget 'the best ever' contributed to its blockade

(Patria) - Member of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly Šerif Špago (SDA) believes that the non-adoption of the state budget and the blockade of parliamentary work are a consequence of disagreements within the ruling majority, and that due to such behavior, BiH institutions and its European path are suffering.

Špago warns that more than a month and a half has been lost since the session at which the Trojka (Trio) first proposed a conclusion to return the budget to the BiH Presidency, instead of it being considered and possibly adopted immediately.

- Perhaps it would have been better if we had voted on it then and not adopted it, because we would probably have had the opportunity to send a new proposal into procedure in the meantime - Špago points out.

He assesses that thanks to the Trojka Club's conclusion to return the budget to the BiH Presidency for technical corrections, the House of Representatives today did not accept that the budget be discussed either in an urgent or abbreviated procedure.

- Thanks to the votes of representatives from the RS, both options were rejected, and the possibility remains for the budget to go through the regular procedure for a possible urgent session planned for October 29.

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The Proposal for the Budget of BiH Institutions for 2025 will be considered on October 29 in the regular procedure

(Patria) - The House of Representatives of the PS BiH at today's urgent session did not support either the urgent or abbreviated procedure for considering the Proposal for the Budget of BiH Institutions and international obligations for 2025, and the Budget will be considered at an urgent session

The existing parliamentary majority once again proves that they have no agreement on any issue, that they are competing to see who will appeal more to voters, while BiH institutions suffer from their inaction and failure to implement previous agreements - says Špago.

- And they are the same ones who previously called the budget 'the best ever', and now they have contributed to its blockade.

- Although I always support that important documents in BiH must go through the agreement of the parliamentary majority, if they don't pass in parliament, then it's just populism - Špago states.

He notes that the BiH Presidency does not have the instruments to make technical corrections, and adds that the Ministry of Finance should have handled the technical matters, returned the budget to the parliamentary procedure, and voted on it.

- Unfortunately, we have lost time and achieved nothing today - Špago stated.

He also touched upon the fiscal framework, warning that the statements of the leaders of SNSD and HDZ indicate that there will be no increase in funds for state institutions.

- They announce that all surplus revenue will go to the entity governments, which means there will not be a significant increase in the amounts for state institutions - Špago says.

He also commented on the postponement of the consideration of the Reform Agenda document from the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, saying that the current BiH Council of Ministers acts as a statistician next to the parliamentary majority, and that the representatives have not received official materials on which to base the discussion.

- We shouldn't have even started the session today, because we had no materials. We do not have the official document of the Reform Agenda that was sent to Brussels.

Borjana Krišto confirmed that the document was sent in English, as it was received, even though there was enough time to translate and provide it to the representatives. If nothing else, so we know what it's about.

- We know for sure that what the European Commission and our prime ministers requested last year has not been included in that agenda, even though these are issues from the 14 priorities of the European Commission from 2014 - added Šerif Špago.