The systemic fight against corruption in our country is on hold. The mechanism exists. There is a Law on Conflict of Interest at the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), but the current one is completely inconsistent with European regulations. So, there is a commission in charge of law enforcement, but it is composed of parliamentarians. They decide for themselves whether they or their party colleagues are in a conflict of interest. An almost identical legal solution exists in Republika Srpska (RS). For nine years, no one in the Federation of BiH (FBiH) has decided on conflicts of interest.
In the fight against corruption and crime, one of the key laws is the one on preventing conflicts of interest, which BiH must harmonize with European regulations. This is the obligation of our country as one of the 14 priorities from the Opinion of the European Commission.
“BiH has not done anything since the last report and has not made progress in improving regulations in the area of conflict of interest,” Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) noted.
It is not the law that is disputable, but who implements it and how – a politicized commission formed in 2014, and composed of members of both houses of the state parliament. Therefore, party staff decides on a possible personal or conflict of interest of party colleagues. The fact that there is no law enforcement body means that the law, in fact, does not exist unlike many cases of conflict of interest and incompatible functions.
“In 2013, when the new law on conflict of interest was adopted at the level of BiH, it provided for the formation of a commission of members of parliament and the Agency for Prevention of Corruption and thus removed the competence of the Central Election Commission (CEC), which ultimately affected the application of laws in Federation, ” explains Ivana Korajlic, Director of Transparency International BiH.
Thus, in that way, a legal vacuum was created, because according to the valid federal law, the CEC is still authorized to implement it. The FBiH had to adopt a new law on preventing conflicts of interest nine years ago. There were attempts, like the one from 2019, when the formation of an independent commission was planned, but the Federal Minister of Justice never offered a new law. Three years later, a new proposal.
The competent institutions have not curbed corruption, despite the support of domestic and international partners engaged in the fight against corruption, “the OSCE underlined.
And here we are among the first. By established matrix, we have a private company, state competition, and public money. Family members and friends employed in public institutions. Thus, an official can be both a director and a representative and a delegate or even a councilor. Many see this as a reason to step up efforts to resist the law that will prevent all this. Because whose interest is it – a conflict of interest? While, according to the announcers, the new federal law should appear in March, let us recall the outcome of the attempts to make changes at the state level. No one voted for the professional commission and greater transparency and control of the property of public officials.
E.Dz.
Source: Federalna
