Parties propose remaining ministerial names, working weekend for SDA, HDZ and DF!

After finally agreeing on the distribution of positions five months after the elections, the coalition parties SDA, HDZ BiH and DF are expected to come out today with final proposals for names for ministers in the Council of Ministers and the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, reports the Patria news agency.

Although most of the names are known, the parties announced on Friday that they would make a final decision on candidates on Monday, March 16.

Thus, former mayor of Sarajevo Semiha Borovac will be Minister for Human Rights and Refugees in the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Adil Osmanović will be Minister of Civil Affairs. The Deputy Minister of Justice will be Nezir Pivić, and the Deputy Minister of Finance will be Mirsad Žuga.

When it comes to HDZ candidates, for now it is certain that Vjekoslav Bevanda will be proposed as Minister of Finance, and Marina Pendeš, the current Deputy Minister of Defense, could be the new Minister of Defense. As for deputy positions, unofficial information says that the candidate for Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs will be Josip Brkić, and for Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Predrag Kožul.

The Alliance for Changes of the RS was among the first to announce the names of its candidates for ministers. These are Igor Crnadak (PDP) for the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mirko Šarović (SDS) for Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, and Dragan Mektić (SDS) for Minister of Security. Deputy ministers are Boris Jerinić (SDS) in the Ministry of Defense, Predrag Jović (SDS) in the Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees, and Đorđe Milićević (NDP) in the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Slavko Matanović from DF will be the new Minister of Transport and Communications, while the Deputy Minister of Defense from DF will be Emir Suljagić.

Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

As for the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, for now it is certain that the SDA has proposed Aljoša Čampara for Minister of Internal Affairs, while Edin Ramić will be Minister for Displaced Persons and Refugees. Šemsudin Dedić is at the head of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry.

Bakir Izetbegović, deputy president of the SDA, said that the names of ministers in the Council of Ministers and the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina have been confirmed and explained that for the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the ministers of crafts and development, education and science, and the minister for veterans and disabled veterans of the defensive-liberation war have not been selected. It is known that these three candidates (Ministry of Crafts and Development, Education and Science, and for Veterans and Disabled Veterans of the Defensive-Liberation War, which will be harmonized with the DF) will be from the Tuzla, Zenica-Doboj and Herzegovina-Neretva cantons.

It is also certain that Dragan Čović, leader of the HDZ, will propose Jelka Milićević for Minister of Finance, whose appointment must be approved by Željko Komšić and Bakir Izetbegović.

The DF did not want to discuss names, as Komšić announced that during the weekend he wants to hear opinions from outside Sarajevo as well.

In any case, time is running out, and optimistic forecasts say that by the end of next week we could have both the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Council of Ministers formed. The election of the government is also important because of the new budget, which must be proposed by March 31, as the decision on temporary financing expires then.