Nine public office holders resigned due to conflicts of interest during April and May 2023, which continued the trend of resignations due to the prohibition of performing double functions prescribed by the Law on the Prevention and Suppression of Corruption in Canton Sarajevo (CS).
A total of 44 public office holders in CS have submitted their resignations so far.
All resignations were submitted before the Anticorruption and Quality Control Office of CS completed the procedures for determining conflicts of interest. Due to the resignations, the Office has so far not punished any public office holder due to a conflict of interest.
“The Office had no need to impose sanctions because so far all public office holders have submitted their resignations before the Office ended the proceedings. This shows that public office holders are aware that in CS it is no longer possible to hold two public offices at the same time because they will be sanctioned,” says Head of Office Erduan Kafedzic.
The Law on Prevention and Suppression of Corruption in CS, which came into force on January 1st, 2023, expanded the Office’s powers to manage conflicts of interest and protect corruption whistleblowers and formalized the Office’s role in establishing integrity plans for all public institutions in CS.
According to this law, the holder of a public office is prohibited from holding more than one public office in the authorities at the level of the CS, the City of Sarajevo, and the municipalities on the territory of the CS, as well as at all levels of government in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The holder of a public office is obliged to resign or otherwise leave an incompatible office within 30 days after assuming the last incompatible office.
E.Dz.
