Terzić: The FBiH Parliament cannot convene only when it is in the interest of the ruling parties

Reports from the Center for Civic Initiatives (CCI) on the work of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the past year are devastating. Deputies did not convene for almost the entire summer, there is distrust among coalition partners, and the number of adopted laws is minimal.

- During a little more than a year of the current government's activity, there is constant distrust among coalition partners, which, if one delves into the essence of the problem, again brings us back to the qualification, already stated several times, that narrow party interests still occupy a primary place in political activity in the Federation of BiH – state from the CCI.

The House of Representatives held 20 sessions in 2016, which is 10 sessions fewer than the average of the previous term. At those sessions in 2016, 156 measures were considered and 29 laws were adopted, while the average of the previous term was 180 measures and 40 laws. By most parameters, the results of the House of Peoples are also below the average of the previous term.

Journalist and political commentator Almir Terzić tells the Patria news agency that citizens in the Federation almost do not have a Parliament of the Federation of BiH, and that because of this, the rule of law in the Federation of BiH has been seriously called into question. 

- Both houses of the FBiH Parliament convene exclusively when it is in the interest of the parties in power. That is unacceptable. Such a situation creates legal uncertainty for the citizens of FBiH – Terzić believes. 

- The FBiH Parliament has not adopted a single important document related to improving the standard of living of citizens in the past year. Mostly, the wishes of political parties were fulfilled, or mere obligations to the IMF, and only to a small extent obligations from reform processes important for the participation of FBiH in European integration – says Terzić. He believes that the opposition in FBiH should also be more energetic, and that it must exert greater pressure on the government. "Even if the government refuses to convene, opposition deputies and delegates must constantly insist on it."

Terzić says that the political crisis in FBiH was attempted to be alleviated by spreading stories about how the FBiH Government worked during the period of stagnation in the Parliament's work. For Terzić, such data are inaccurate. It is impossible, he says, for the Government to function if there is no agreement in the Parliament.