DF MP Didik-Sarajlić tells Prime Minister Gutić: I will not resign

Lejla Didik-Sarajlić, MP in the TK Assembly and delegate in the House of Peoples of the FBiH Parliament, sent an open letter to TK Prime Minister Bego Gutić, which the Patria News Agency relays in full.

- The most immoral act (towards the citizens who have placed their trust in me) at this moment would be to succumb to pressure based on speculations, false and unsubstantiated claims that Prime Minister Gutić is dealing with in his recent statements, while calling on me to resign from my positions in the Assembly of Tuzla Canton and the House of Peoples of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

I understand his need to "remove", or rather, include on his "hit list" everyone who is not "with him", everyone for whom the LAW on one hand, and PROFESSIONALISM AND RESPONSIBILITY on the other, are the only true criteria when making decisions, or undertaking certain activities within their professional engagement, and thus me too.

However, that (his need) in no way justifies his recent populist statements in the media directed against me and respected colleague Jasmin Kadić, an MP in the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament, with which he tries, of course in the absence of real arguments (in his already recognizable style) to deceive the public, divert attention from himself, "attack" our honor, our moral and professional integrity, all in order to disqualify us as people and representatives, and ultimately divert attention from himself and his "promises" and claims made in our addresses.

Due to all of the above, I consider it my moral and professional responsibility to inform, first and foremost, the public about the following:

Namely, in March 2015, I informed and requested responsible persons in the Financial and Accounting Service of the TK Assembly to take all activities to stop the illegally paid funds for the MP's per diem for the months of January, February, March, and April, after which, two months after my reactions, and in accordance with the instructions of the persons from the Financial and Accounting Service, I signed a statement that I renounce the right to per diem in the TK Assembly (starting from May 2015).

I perceived and interpreted the Statement itself, based on the explanations of experts, as the only way to stop illegal payments, which I also consider pointless since the law clearly and unequivocally states that "elected officials can only exercise the right to a permanent monthly monetary benefit (per diem) on one basis, i.e., at one level of legislative authority."

Also, I want to point out that on January 15, 2015, after taking over the delegate duty in the House of Peoples of the FBiH Parliament, I signed a statement of my personal commitment where I want to exercise the right to compensation based on per diem.

Based on all of the above, I ask Prime Minister Gutić to explain his evidently malicious statement that I officially requested to have the compensation I receive as an MP in the TK Assembly stopped, as he claims, ONLY AFTER THE TERMINATION OF THE COALITION RELATIONSHIP AND THE DEMOCRATIC FRONT'S MOVE FROM "GOVERNMENT" TO "OPPOSITION"...

Dates prove otherwise, as evidenced by the statement on the "suspension" of payments based on per diem, which dates back to April 2015, not July when the coalition was dissolved, about which persons from the Service for Financial and Accounting Affairs can inform you.

Respected Prime Minister Gutić, explain to the public on what basis you are making your claims and speculating with dates related to my request to stop per diem payments in the TK Assembly, claiming that this happened after the DF moved from government to opposition.

Also, explain how it is possible that you accuse and qualify as immoral a person who first pointed out the illegal spending of funds from the TK budget based on illegal per diem receipts.

Above all, you are calling on me to resign from all my positions.

Are you perhaps sending a message to the public with that act that anyone who tries to work and act within legal frameworks, or God forbid tries to report illegal actions, will be "eliminated"?!

Furthermore, I invite you to argue, or document, your insinuations (claims) that based on the collection of per diem and work in commissions for 2015 to date, I owe 7,057.42 KM, of which I am supposed to return 2,773.70 KM, and that I received two professional salaries: one as a professional MP in the House of Peoples of the FBiH Parliament, and the second salary as a professional MP in the TK Assembly, which you claimed in your denial also published on the official website of the TK Government, on December 14, 2015.

Are you also saying with the statement that you cannot be the on-duty financial controller and cannot bear responsibility for acts committed before your mandate, that as the most responsible person for spending budget funds, you will not undertake all possible activities and demand the return of any illegally paid funds to MPs/delegates, not only in this mandate, but also in the 2010-2014 mandate, because the law has been in force since 2010?!

Also, I invite you to call to account all professional and other persons who, possibly through their irresponsibility, directly or indirectly, participated in the potential damage of budget funds.

Finally, and I remind you once again, the people elected us to be their representatives so that we can fight for a fairer society and against the policies to which you yourself belong! We strive to perform our duties professionally and responsibly, by presenting facts and insisting that the actions of institutions return to legal and constitutional frameworks, and precisely for moral reasons, we will not give up our professional engagement.

Due to all of the above, it would be extremely immoral to betray the people who have placed their trust in me, and to fulfill "Your wish" in terms of stepping down from the positions I hold in the TK Assembly and the House of Peoples of the FBiH Parliament.

No, I will not succumb to your pressure and I will continue, as before, to perform my job in a highly professional and responsible manner, which is the job of an MP in the TK Assembly and a delegate in the House of Peoples of the FBiH Parliament!, the open letter concludes.