House of Representatives today on the appointment of the RTV FBiH Management Board: Will Zoran Krešić, who advocates for the dismantling of the Federation, get the necessary majority?

(Patria) - The 19th regular session of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been scheduled for today in Sarajevo, starting at 10:00 AM. There are five items on the agenda.

The first item will be the consideration of the Information on undertaken and planned measures, activities, and results in the remediation and reconstruction of areas affected by floods.

Representatives will, under an expedited procedure, consider the Bill on Amendments to the Law on Contributions, which was determined by the Government of the FBiH.

"The proposed legal solution reduces the aggregate contribution rate by 13.25 percent, or by five and a half index points, i.e., from 41.5 percent to 36 percent.

Namely, the contribution rate for pension and disability insurance borne by the employer is reduced by three and a half index points, as is the contribution rate for health insurance borne by the employer by two index points," the explanation states.

The Government of the FBiH, as the proposer, also clarifies that the proposed amendments are part of a set of fiscal measures that it plans to implement based on its work programs, particularly concerning new laws on contributions and income tax.

The proposer cites the relief of the economy and the reduction of salary costs as reasons for adopting the law on contributions, especially considering employers who will have higher costs in 2025 due to payments in accordance with the Decision on the amount of the minimum wage.

At the same time, the proposed amendments fully implement the decision of the Constitutional Court of the FBiH of March 21, 2023.

It is proposed that the law enters into force the day after its publication in the Official Gazette of the FBiH and that its application begins on July 1 of this year.

The proposal for this law was considered and accepted at the session of the Economic and Social Council, and the Government proposed that Parliament consider it under an expedited procedure.

The agenda of today's session also includes the Decision of the Government of the FBiH on allocating funds to the Solidarity Fund of the FBiH for 2025.

"In 2025, 10.2 percent of the total revenue generated from mandatory health insurance contributions will be allocated to the Solidarity Fund of the FBiH. The remaining 89.8 percent is intended for health insurance institutes," the Decision states.

The allocation of 10.2 percent is intended for securing federal solidarity funds for financing priority vertical healthcare programs of interest to the FBiH, as well as for providing priority, most complex forms of healthcare from certain specialist activities within the territory of the FBiH.

The Government made this decision at its session held on February 25, when it stated that it would inform the Federal Parliament.

The last item on the agenda is announced as 'elections and appointments', which, among other things, relates to the election of a judge of the Constitutional Court of BiH, who, according to the rules, should be appointed from the FBiH to replace judge Seada Palavrić due to her retirement.

Within the same item, the appointment of the Management Board (UO) of RTV FBiH is also proposed, where the name of journalist Zoran Krešić is particularly controversial, a fact that the opposition has pointed out in recent days. Namely, they find Krešić's appointment as a member of the Management Board unacceptable, primarily due to his glorification of the so-called Herceg-Bosna and his calls for the dismantling of the FBiH.

We remind that the US Embassy in BiH also commented on Krešić's views, stating in its press release:

"His shameful calls for further division of Bosnia and Herzegovina and obstruction of the functioning of the Federation of BiH are destructive, irresponsible, and inconsistent with building a common, multi-ethnic future within Euro-Atlantic institutions.

Not only are his calls to restore Herceg-Bosna dangerous and anti-Dayton, they are offensive and regressive, and make him unqualified for any position in the public RTV service".

Also within the 'elections and appointments' item, the dismissal of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Edina Gabela (Party for BiH), and the appointment of Azra Okić, a member of SDP BiH, to that position have been proposed.