Troika's Government of the Sarajevo Canton as a Scoundrel with Empty Pockets: Through Profligacy They Checked the Visa for a Difficult Future!

Written by: Muamer Bandić, representative in the Assembly of the Sarajevo Canton

When one looks at the current financial situation in the Sarajevo Canton, it is not at all surprising why the authorities rushed the Amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Sarajevo Canton Assembly. Simply put, by all means, they want to stifle any discussion about the financial crisis they have led us into, even that in the assembly benches.

While workers tied to the cantonal budget fear for their incomes, the authorities fear more the opposition's questioning of where and how the money was spent. Instead of facing the situation as a responsible government, taking responsibility and taking the necessary steps to remedy the crisis, they, like drunks in delirium, refuse even to admit that the finances of the Sarajevo Canton are in complete disarray!

The report on the financial audit of the Sarajevo Canton for 2023 showed a deficit of as much as 80 million KM, an already created, real loss of this government with which it entered the current year. When planning the budget for 2024, the Government of the Sarajevo Canton had to be aware that they were short of money and was obliged to plan a realistic and more restrictive budget, not to behave like a drunk who, without a mark in his pocket, orders rounds for the whole bar. This drunk certainly won the sympathy of the uninformed, even got a few pats on the back for the free drinks, but the time has come to draw a line at the bar and pay the tab for such reckless and irresponsible carousing with other people's money.

Thus, today we have come to a situation where we have "regular" delays in the payment of maternity benefits, child allowance, compensation for civilian victims of war, as well as delays in the payment of salaries to budget users.

And what has the Government of the Sarajevo Canton done about this?

The Government of the Sarajevo Canton continues to play dumb and publicly denies that a crisis exists at all. However, in order to conceal the real state of finances and avoid a parliamentary debate on it, they decided to 'slash' costs by adopting the Decision on Suspending the Execution of Expenditures in the Special Part of the Budget of the Sarajevo Canton for 2024. With this move, they left non-profit organizations, veterans, ministries, public institutions, youth, science, the police, etc., without the promised funds.

In parliamentary democracies, the usual practice in such situations is for the government to initiate a budget rebalancing procedure and to speak openly and truthfully about the crisis in order to find the best and least painful solution. Unfortunately, in the Sarajevo Canton, the government has decided to hide the truth and lie to the citizens. Not even the most honest Forto asks where the money has disappeared?!

This lying is all the worse because this government has, in the last four years, incurred debt of almost an incredible 700 million KM, for which no one knows exactly what it was spent on. The government will say it was for the reconstruction of the railway, new trams and trolleybuses, but this is highly questionable given that these contracts are hidden from us representatives and from the public eye.

Moreover, not a single one of these capital projects has been completed, but money is still being pumped into them through contract annexes and new borrowing. Or, which is probably closer to the truth, it is being pumped out of the budget into someone's private pockets, leaving accumulated debts for generations to come. The saddest and most devastating part of this whole story is that institutions have been so eroded and destroyed that the entire judiciary silently watches this arrogant plunder of the budget unfolding before their eyes.

I cannot conceive it any other way that those who promised us the smartest, most honest, most capable and bravest have actually placed their minions in the governments, who blindly implement the decisions and views of their political bosses. Without critical thinking, they put the interests of the parties and their party leaders before the interests of the citizens. And these are people who do not understand that the budget is not a collection of some numbers and people who do not understand that the state is not a mere collection of some forests and meadows.

Every budget is primarily a reflection of the political priorities and goals of the government, and the state is the home of every nation, which is gradually built and improved through budget investments. Through the budgets of the Government of the Sarajevo Canton, for the previous, current, and next year, it can be seen that the entire strategy of the Troika government and their 'values' is a complete failure for the future of the Sarajevo Canton. These people say one thing, but have no idea what they want to do, judging by the budgets.

Thus, in the budget for the next year, we have 50 million KM less in social benefits, which shows that, in a typical neoliberal manner, they are saving on the poorest and most vulnerable categories of the population. It's important that there is money for cronies, and the poor can go to hell...

For public enterprises, which are already on the verge of collapse and barely functioning, there are no allocations. When the government, even with accelerated borrowing, has not managed to solve the accumulated problems, it is clear that they will throw these problems onto the backs of the citizens. That is, in the coming period, we can expect price increases for all utility and public services.

The lack of indirect revenues, i.e., the weighting factor behind which the Troika parties constantly hide, is just one element of the revenue shortfall in the budget for the next year, but the now chronic, multi-year lack of revenue indicates that this political bloc and this Government of the Sarajevo Canton are completely incapable of solving that or any other problem. Moreover, they are rapidly piling them up.

Poor planning, arrogance and lack of transparency in spending, and enormous and accelerated borrowing are the hallmarks of this drunken government, which, if it continues on this path, will completely financially impoverish and destroy the Sarajevo Canton. This will come as no surprise, as their beacons of governance and political values have long been Mostar and Banja Luka.