Oslobođenje: After a short discussion of the House of Peoples of the Parliament of the FBiH, the Law on Conflict of Interests in the government authorities, without the amendments, has been adopted yesterday. The Law has been adopted in the same text in which it has been accepted on October 14th by the House of Representatives, which means that it can inure by the beginning of implementation of the election results, as it was asked by the High Representative in BiH, Miroslav Lajčak from the parliamentarians and the Government.
Conclusion before the Law
However, before they have declared themselves on the Law, the delegates have adopted the conclusion of the head of the Bosniak Caucus, Alija Begović, according to whom the Constitutional-Legal Committee of the Parliament of the FBiH and the Government are obligating themselves to approach its changes and amendments within a deadline of 60 days. In the circles of the Parliament of the FBiH, this has been interpreted as just a formal adoption of the Law, under the pressure of the OHR.
Discrimination of the officials
The House of Peoples has refused the amendment of the delegate Asim Kamber, to the article of the Law on Conflict of Interests, according to which it has been defined that the elected officials, bearers of the executive function and advisors may not do the function of the authorized persons in the foundations and associations which are being financed from the budget of any level of government in a sum bigger than 10 hundred KM. Kamber has confirmed that the officials in the FBiH are by this regulation doubly discriminated from their colleagues in the RS, because in this entity the legal limit related to the sum of financing the associations from the budget is 100 hundred KM.
On several occasions, the Prime Minister of the FBiH, Nedžad Branković, has appealed on the delegates who have embedded the amendments, to withdraw them, so the final adoption and application of this Law would not be hardened. The Bosniak Caucus has then withdrawn two amendments by which it has been anticipated that the procedure for determining the conflict of interests is not being implemented by the Central Election Commission, but the committee which would be formed by the Parliament of the FBiH.
Saša Magazinović has expressed his objection to the unclear definition of “persons connected to some official by the interest”, where the personal, political, economic or other relationship are without special precision and explanation.
Pudarić’s T-shirt
The amendment of the delegate Svetozar Pudarić, even though it received a broad support in the House, because of the intervention of the Prime Minister, has not been adopted either. If it were, giving the approval to the state official for executing additional activities which are forbidden to the elected officials, would be forbidden by this amendment. This delegate has graded the yesterday adopted Law as caricatured. His attitude, Pudarić has expressed by wearing the T-shirt with the heroes of the band TNT, from the cult comics Alan Ford.
OHR has welcomed the adoption of the Law
The OHR and the EUSR are welcoming the adoption of the Law on Conflict on Interest in the institutions of the Government of the Federation of BiH, which has been adopted by the House of Peoples by an urgent procedure, reports Fena. The Law has inured in a key moment, having in mind that the system of control of the officials in the FBiH before confirming the election results, is being established by it, has been stated in the announcement of the OHR.
“This Law is significant because the domination of law, regulated leading and a fight against the corruption in Bosnia and Herzegovina are being strengthened by it. By the adoption of this Law, the mechanisms of supervision and the system of sanctions (by which the regulated control of work and behaving of the officials at their public functions in the FBiH has been ensured), have been established”, has been said by the High Representative and the Special Representative of the EU, Miroslav Lajčak.