I am convinced of my victory, I will be the Prime Minister of Sarajevo Canton!

 

The current mayor of the Sarajevo Municipality Centar, Dževad Bećirević, is the holder of the SDP list for Sarajevo Canton. In an interview with the BH News Agency Patria, he talks about the current situation in the largest canton, problems of public enterprises owned by the Canton, and predicts tonight's match of our national football team.

PATRIA: It is known that Sarajevo Canton has never been in a more difficult situation since 1996. Who is to blame for such a catastrophic state?

BEĆIREVIĆ: The Canton has truly never been in a more difficult situation, not even in the post-war years. A number of circumstances are to blame for this situation - bad decisions made in the Canton, as well as the recession that has not bypassed anyone in the world. However, I am a person who looks forward and will not dwell on what has not been done or has been done poorly, but on what lies ahead to get us out of this situation. I know that with the victory of the SDP and my coming to the head of the Government of Sarajevo Canton, things will start to improve. We have prepared solutions.

PATRIA: Given that you are convinced of your victory, and that you have already announced that you will be the Prime Minister of the Canton, how do you plan to solve the accumulated problems? For example, how will you pay the veteran population 10 million KM owed by the Government?

BEĆIREVIĆ: I am convinced of victory because I know that our fellow citizens have recognized the responsible and quality policy that I have pursued for ten years in Centar and based on which I and my associates have created the strongest municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We will solve problems systematically and on realistic grounds. Everything we do will be extremely responsible, primarily towards the money of our citizens. Our veterans deserve great attention, and we in the Municipality of Centar pay it to them. The money we owe them can be paid, and we will do it. How? Well, in the same way that the FBiH Government did, which reduced its debts of 300 million marks to this population. So, everything starts with realistic planning of funds and monitoring their expenditure. To the last mark.

PATRIA: Problems of GRAS, ZOI 84, Skenderija, JKP Rad, Park... all these companies were or still are on strike. Do you have a plan for the recovery of these companies?

BEĆIREVIĆ: To correct you. KJKP Rad operates positively and the employees of this company were not on strike. I don't see why such a model couldn't be applied to other companies. The problems in the communal economy are large, but not insurmountable. For starters, it is necessary to find a modus for merging companies with similar activities, because in that way we would save millions of marks - we would have fewer management and supervisory boards, directors and managers, and so on. In addition, we will settle debts for contributions to employees, and enable all those who meet the conditions to retire. If we only did this, we would solve a large part of the problems and create prerequisites for the recovery of the communal economy.

PATRIA: You are the current mayor of the Municipality of Centar. According to the Law on Principles of Local Self-Government, 39 competencies have been returned to the municipalities. If you become prime minister, will you insist on returning these competencies to the municipalities, or will you behave in the prime ministerial position like former prime ministers who did not respect the Law?

BEĆIREVIĆ: I believe that, as the future Prime Minister of Sarajevo Canton, I will be in a position to correct all the inconsistencies and omissions that I have been fighting for ten years as the mayor of the Municipality of Centar. I have spoken countless times about the necessity of adopting the Law on Local Self-Government of KS, which should be harmonized with the Law on Principles of Local Self-Government in FBiH. By the decision of the Constitutional Court of FBiH of October 12, 2010, it was determined that Sarajevo Canton violated the right of the Municipality of Centar to local self-government in parts that establish the obligation for KS to adopt its own law on local self-government and transfer competencies to municipalities: preschool and primary education, spatial planning, management of public areas, construction land, water supply, parking lots, public transport... Also, it is necessary to adopt a new Law on the Allocation of Public Revenues as soon as possible, which would financially support the transferred competencies. While performing the function of mayor of Centar, I know best what problems we face due to unharmonized laws and insufficiently precise competencies, which most affects the users of our services, for whom we are here. I believe that the Prime Minister of Sarajevo Canton must respect the law and respect the decisions of the Constitutional Court, which is why I will do everything to finally resolve this legal chaos in which we have been for years.

PATRIA: Sarajevo as a city has the most problems with illegal construction. What will you do about this issue if you become prime minister?

BEĆIREVIĆ: The problem of illegal construction falls under the jurisdiction of the municipalities. We in the Municipality of Centar have allocated significant funds for this purpose every year and have prevented this phenomenon as much as we could. However, there were also cases where we could not intervene due to legalization decisions made at the level of Sarajevo Canton. Our commitment, when it comes to violating the law, is that there are no privileges. This will continue to be the case.

PATRIA: The problem of stray dogs in Sarajevo Canton currently seems unsolvable. As the mayor of the Municipality of Centar, you suspended funding for the shelter in Prača until a report is submitted, i.e., until it is determined how the money was spent. What can you do as the future prime minister to solve this disgrace for the capital city, and what will be your first steps?

BEĆIREVIĆ: First of all, I believe that the current Law on Animal Protection and Welfare has not precisely defined the responsibilities of different levels of government. Municipalities are in a very unenviable position in this regard, because the problem of stray dogs is not something that each municipality can solve individually. However, citizens rightly perceive us as the first place they turn to with appeals for solutions. The Municipality of Centar cannot remove all its dogs and expect the problem to be solved that way. If it were that simple, we would have done it long ago. Do you think I'm indifferent when I hear about dog attacks? It can happen to any of us. The problem we have with aggressive animals cannot be the responsibility of the municipalities, because as long as we act ad hoc, we will achieve nothing. Dogs do not recognize borders between municipalities; even if you remove them, we all know that new packs soon appear, so I think that only through synchronized action - municipalities, cantons, the Federation of BiH, and if you will, the entire country, can we find a quality solution, in legislative and practical terms.

As the future prime minister, I will consider solving the alarming situation with stray dogs as one of the primary problems of our citizens, but everything we do will be done in cooperation with other levels of government and animal protection associations.

OUR DRAGONS WIN 2:1 TONIGHT

PATRIA: Tonight is the match between BiH and Wales. Your prediction.

BEĆIREVIĆ: Our Dragons will definitely win, with a score of 1:2.