Trojka and HDZ BiH circumventing the law: FUP without parliamentary oversight, no Independent Body to announce competition for director

By Amra Vrabac

The joint working group of the Commission for election and appointment of both houses of the FBiH Parliament has never been constituted, although members from both houses were elected back in January this year. As confirmed to Patria by some members of the Joint Working Group, no one has ever contacted them to hold the first session and start working.

This Commission is supposed to conduct the competition procedure for the election of members of the Independent Body of the FBiH Parliament, as the mandate of the previous convocation expired at the end of August 2022.

The Independent Body of the FBiH Parliament announces and conducts the competition procedure for the election of the director and deputy director of the Federal Police Administration. FUP has been without an elected director for more than five years, specifically since Dragan Lukač retired, and from 2019 to date, there have been three competitions, but no candidate has received the support of the FBiH Government. The mandate of the deputy director has also expired.

On May 17, the FBiH Government, headed by Prime Minister Nermin Nikšić, authorized Vahidin Munjić to lead FUP for a period of three months. More than two months have already passed, and a solution to this situation is not in sight.

Although there are no obstacles to constituting the Commission and electing members of the Independent Body, the public is left without an answer as to why the delay.

The new FBiH Government was confirmed on April 28. In the distribution of positions, it has not yet been announced who the position of FUP director belongs to. The Minister of FMUP is Ramo Isak, which, in accordance with the Law on Internal Affairs, would mean that a Bosniak cannot be appointed to that position. However, a Bosniak was chosen as acting director, and Ensad Korman previously held that position.

It is no secret that HDZ BiH has wanted the top position of FUP director for years, and candidates close to this party have applied for the competitions. They wanted to appoint Zoran Galić to that position, but there was no support from the FBiH Government. Galić was appointed Deputy Director of SIPA in February this year.

The parties of Trojka and HDZ are silent about the top FUP position, and Minister Isak is not pushing for the Commission to finally be constituted and the members of the Independent Body to be elected.

The Federal Police Administration has been without parliamentary oversight for a year, which raises numerous questions about the transparency and legality of the work of this important police agency.

Competencies of the Independent Body

The Independent Body is an independent body of the Parliament of the Federation, established by the Law on Internal Affairs of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Independent Body performs the following tasks: announces and conducts a public competition for the appointment of the police director; selects and proposes a list of candidates for the election of the police director to the Government of the Federation, which it submits through the minister; monitors the work of the police director and reports to the Parliament of the Federation, the Government of the Federation, and the minister on the work of the police director; proposes the dismissal of the police director to the Government of the Federation in accordance with the Law on Internal Affairs of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina; conducts first-instance disciplinary proceedings against the police director and imposes disciplinary sanctions; receives, considers, and acts on complaints filed regarding the work of the police director and informs the minister and the Government of the Federation about them;
adopts its rules of procedure.