House of Representatives in Action: Must Prevent Salary Increases for Officials and Adopt the 2023 Budget in the Same Session

(Patria) – An emergency session of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly will be held on Wednesday, March 29.

The first item on the agenda is the Bill on Amendments to the Law on Salaries and Allowances in institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, proposed by the Presidency of BiH. Representatives will first declare on the procedure for considering this law, as the Presidency has requested that it be considered under an urgent procedure.

This law was initiated by member of the Presidency of BiH Denis Bećirović at a session of the Presidency of BiH, who conditioned his support for the proposed Budget of BiH institutions on the adoption of this law, which aims to stop the salary increase for high-ranking officials, including members of the Presidency of BiH, representatives, delegates, ministers in the Council of Ministers of BiH...

According to the base amount of 600 KM, and considering the salary increases for officials from last year, this would mean that ultimately, under the new calculation, the high salaries of officials would increase by about 1000 KM.

The proposal adopted by the Presidency of BiH at the session on March 20 states that salaries and allowances for appointed and elected officials in BiH institutions with a coefficient above 8.0 will be calculated based on an amount of 535 KM.

The justification for the Proposal states that it is in accordance with the Constitution of BiH because it will not lead to a reduction in the income of officials in BiH institutions, but their income will remain at the existing level. It also states that increasing the salaries of officials would deepen the disparity between the highest and lowest salaries in BiH institutions, and the purpose of increasing the base amount was to increase the salaries of soldiers, state police officers, and employees in institutions with lower incomes. 

The Presidency of BiH has also sent the same Bill to the House of Peoples of the PS BiH. The session of that House has not yet been scheduled, but it is expected to be held after the session of the House of Representatives, by March 31.

The second item is the Budget of BiH institutions and international obligations, proposed by the Presidency of BiH. Representatives will first declare on the procedure, as the Presidency of BiH has proposed that it be considered under an urgent procedure. The proposed Budget amounts to 1,163,212 KM.