The Ministry of Finance of Bosnia and Herzegovina rejected the request of the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the payment of a quarter of the funds needed for the organization of the upcoming General Elections. The request, as stated by the state Ministry of Finance, noted illogicalities and illegalities in the expenditure plan. The Central Election Commission said that they would make a new operational plan, and that everything was done according to the law. Is it questionable to hold elections in October this year?
Apart from the fact that the election process could be jeopardized, if the state budget is not adopted, the Central Election Commission said that the election preparation process could also be jeopardized. For this first quarter phase of securing the public procurement process, a little over a million marks are needed. And here, now, problems arise.
The Ministry of Finance warned the Central Election Commission that irregularities in the operational plan for special purposes were noticed during the planning of expenditures for the first quarter of this year. They also called for an interpretation of the Law on Financing the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Central Election Commission, on the other hand, says – everything was done according to the law.
During the period of temporary financing, the Council of Ministers may make a special decision on expenditures that were not foreseen in the previous year’s budget, provided that the expenditures of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina that include expenditures may not exceed the sum of revenues collected during the temporary financing. indirect taxes, own source revenues and transferred funds.
The Ministry of Finance and Treasury of Bosnia and Herzegovina did not approve the operational / dynamic plan of the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which included a special purpose program “General Elections”, explaining that in this case it is a “new special purpose program”. election commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina, can by no means be the case. Accordingly, the Collegium of the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina has instructed the Secretariat of the Central Election Commission to develop a new operational / dynamic plan, BHRT writes.
Accoring to MP Sasa Magazinovic, when it comes to the October elections, he would not bet that they will be held.
“The law is very clear: there is no budget – no choice. If we go back to the local elections, they were prolonged and held outside the legal deadline because there was no budget. Only when we adopted the budget they were held. We are in 2022 today, we did not have an adopted budget for 2021. These “destructive individuals” say it is possible, so they can do it without a budget. I am not very optimistic that the budget will be adopted because the budget and the holding of elections, as well as many other topics, are used as an argument for evaluation, ” said Magazinovic.
