Želimir Nešković, a delegate in the Serb Caucus of the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, requested that amendments to the Law on Excise Duties be included on the agenda of an urgent session scheduled for Monday, March 23, which would reduce fuel prices.
Commenting on the refusal to lower excise duties, Nešković said that the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) and its leader Milorad Dodik continue to play with the lives of citizens of Republika Srpska in the most shameless way.
“Not only do they refuse to reduce excise duties in order to ease household budgets, especially for those who struggle the most, and whose number is, unfortunately, increasing under this government, but they are also turning institutions into a circus,” Nešković said.
He added that, after repeatedly electing the same government, nothing coming from the current authorities is surprising anymore. However, he described the “generous” proposal by SNSD and Dodik – to refund 10 percent of excise duties tocitizens after fuel purchases, as further proof of the kind of measures they resort to.
According to him, it is clear even to those less informed that such measures further undermine Republika Srpska and its institutions.
“It is well known what their core interest is – to safeguard every penny taken from the pockets of Republika Srpska citizens for the upcoming elections, as they see them as a matter of survival, not politically, but in terms of avoiding the exposure of all the wrongdoing committed over the past 20 years,” Nešković emphasized.
He concluded that such decisions by the authorities are no longer an exception but the rule, adding that any quasi-explanations offered represent “hypocrisy upon hypocrisy” and an insult to the intelligence of citizens.
“This cannot continue,” Nešković said, according to a statement by the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS).
