Lull in the Parliament of BiH: No sessions, Budget for 2026 on hold, as well as salary increases for employees in BiH institutions

(Patria) - The summer period always brings a lull when it comes to parliamentary sessions, especially in an election year.

The parliamentary calendar for this month is empty, and apart from sessions of some committees, no sessions of either house of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH are scheduled.

After the Presidency of BiH did not adopt the Proposal for the Budget of BiH institutions and international obligations for 2026 at its session on June 2, the Ministry of Finance and Treasury must resubmit a new Draft to the procedure.

Without an adopted Budget, there is no calculation of salaries for employees in BiH institutions and police agencies at an increased base, nor retroactive payments from January, regardless of the fact that the House of Peoples of the PS BiH adopted the Report on achieving an identical text of the Law on Amendments to the Law on Salaries and Allowances in the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, submitted by the Joint Commission for Harmonizing the Text of the Law, thus concluding the procedure for amending the Law. After publication in the Official Gazette of BiH, the law enters into force.

From next week, June 16, Dragan Čović takes over the chairmanship of the House of Peoples of the PS BiH, and more than 150 agenda items are ready for consideration. However, political relations among coalition partners and the change of majority have slowed down the work of this house, and the last year has been marked by interruptions of sessions because delegates from SNSD and HDZ left sessions, thus breaking the quorum.

For now, the priority remains the adoption of the Budget for 2026, and it is very possible that this will happen by the end of the summer.