The Chairman of the Collegium in the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nikola Špirić, and his party colleagues from the SNSD, delegates from the Serbian people, left the session after several hours of discussion, thus breaking the quorum for its holding.
The chairmanship of the session was taken over by the member of the Collegium, Kemal Ademović.
The session continued after a one-hour break given by Špirić (SNSD), but after only a few minutes, a one-hour break was given again. This time, in accordance with the provisions of the Rules of Procedure of the House of Peoples, the break was given by Ademović (NiP), because the SNSD delegates decided not to attend the session.
The delegates were informed of this decision by the Chairman of the House, Nikola Špirić, who left the session after his address.
“You are witnesses that today, for more than two hours, through several dozen, 37 or 40 corrections of false statements, violations of the Rules of Procedure, there was no desire to discuss the two agenda items that the delegates and the delegate requested under the urgent procedure. I scheduled the session, believing that these are two very important laws concerning the payment of secondary education and the improvement of material status and that this has priority over all other polemics and discussions,” said Špirić.
Unfortunately, he added, “I have the feeling that today the agenda in the minds of some was first Nenad Vuković, then the employees and their salaries.”
“We have heard various false allegations, including insults, to the point that we do not interpret the Rules of Procedure, although you know that today the Collegium is not in full composition, cannot interpret it, that the Collegium had a unified position that these should be items on the agenda. This is not the position of the Chairman, but of the Collegium. We from the SNSD do not intend to stay at this session any longer to deal with trivial matters, although we came and were ready to discuss two very important laws, to try to adopt them today,” said Špirić.
He added that the three delegates from the RS “do not want to continue to engage in discussions outside the agenda”.
After that, Špirić left the House session, and it was continued by Deputy Chairman Kemal Ademović.
Given that two delegates from the Club of the Serbian People from the SNSD did not return after the first break, and that the Chairman of the House Nikola Špirić also left the session, there was no quorum to continue the work.
Ademović, in accordance with the provisions of the Rules of Procedure, gave a one-hour break to try to ensure a quorum.
Today, the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina was supposed to consider the request of the House of Representatives of the state parliament to consider the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Salaries and Remunerations in the Institutions of BiH under urgent procedure.
On December 17, 2024, at the proposal of a deputy from the SDA Club, the House of Representatives adopted the proposed law under urgent procedure.
It defines that, exceptionally from Article 7 of this law, for the calculation of salaries of budget users, namely for the positions: Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of the House of Representatives and the House of Peoples of the BiH PA, Chairmen of working committees of both houses and Chairmen of caucuses in the House of Representatives and the House of Peoples of the BiH PA, deputies and delegates to the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, member of the BiH Presidency, Chair of the Council of Ministers of BiH, Deputy Chair of the Council of Ministers of BiH, Minister and Deputy Minister, the base from 2024 will be used.
The explanation of the proposed law states that the increase in the base for calculating salaries from 600 BAM to 631.50 BAM for a coefficient of 10 represents an increase of more than 315 BAM, while for a coefficient of 1.20 it would amount to 37.80 BAM, which, as they state, is unacceptable.
Delegate Džemal Smajić’s request for urgent consideration of the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Salaries and Remunerations in the Institutions of BiH was also to be considered today.
Smajić stated in his explanation that the proposed amendments to the Law on Salaries and Remunerations in the Institutions of BiH, which determine new coefficients for the positions of soldier to lieutenant for professional military personnel, police officer to junior inspector for police officers, and NSS to independent clerk of higher education for employees, would to a certain extent mitigate the negative consequences of inflation when it comes to a real decrease in income, and would also improve the material status of employees in the institutions of BiH.
At the beginning of today’s session, several delegates pointed out what they said was a violation of the Rules of Procedure.
Delegate Nenad Vuković (PDP) made two proposals during the discussion – one was to include the initiative to dismiss Špirić on the agenda of today’s session.
His second proposal was for the House to adopt a conclusion that, immediately after the end of this emergency session, another emergency session would be held to consider the proposal for a decision on the dismissal of the Speaker/First Deputy Speaker/Second Deputy Speaker of the House of Peoples of the BiH PA, Nikola Špirić, and as the second item on the agenda, the proposal for a decision on the dismissal of the Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH, Staša Košarac, and the Minister of Finance and Treasury of BiH, Srđan Amidžić, BHRT writes.
photo: archive
