Amendments to the law that legalize abuses

Banja Luka, 22. March 2012 – Proposals to reduce the number of relatives of the elected official to members of the joint household through amendments to the Law on Conflict of Interest in the Institutions of the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to delete the provisions relating to advisers, thus excluding this category of appointed persons. By law, there is a serious blow that threatens to make this very important anti-corruption law completely pointless.

The disputed provisions of the amendments to the Law on Conflict of Interest were initiated by members of the Interdepartmental Working Group for Preparation of Amendments to the Election and the Law on Conflict of Interest in BiH Authorities and the Law on Financing BiH Political Parties, Milorad Zivkovic (SNSD) and Niko Lozancic (HDZ BiH).

Although there have been attempts to remove the provisions of the Law on Conflict of Interest in Government Institutions in BiH through previous activities of the Interdepartmental Working Group, the provisions stating that it applies to advisors have been assessed as remaining important in the legislation. Namely, there is a serious fear that by releasing the advisor from responsibility, he would give the elected official the opportunity to possibly secure through his advisers in the future what is personally forbidden to him, which could lead to a conflict of interest.

Also, reducing the number of close relatives would lead to the complete collapse of the system related to the prevention of possible corruption. Namely, the Central Election Commission of BiH has so far in numerous cases determined conflicts of interest of elected officials precisely through provisions relating to close relatives. Thus, it is not uncommon for mothers, fathers, sons, daughters as directors (responsible persons), or owners of private or public companies to often conclude deals with government institutions at all levels of BiH in which their sons, fathers, husbands are appointed and elected officials. It is even more common for elected counselors to appoint their close relatives to positions of responsibility in public companies. If the number of relatives were reduced, such cases would gain full legitimacy, and the damage that would be done to the budgets through the acquisition of personal benefits in these cases would be immeasurable.

The proposal submitted by members of the Interdepartmental Working Group from the Central Election Commission, Branko Petric, Suad Arnautovic and Stjepan Mikic, is also unacceptable.

With these attempts, as well as the abolition of the criminal sanction of ineligibility for candidacy, although the BiH Constitutional Court ruled that it is not contrary to the BiH Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights and Civil Liberties, the Law on Conflict of Interest in BiH Government Institutions prevention, create additional opportunities for elected officials to legally pursue their own enrichment in the future without any responsibility.

Instead of tightening sanctions, and incorporating solutions in the legal provisions by which the appointed persons (ministers and deputies) will be automatically removed in the future due to conflicts of interest, the proponents decided to release everyone from responsibility.

Finally, the process of amending the Law on Conflict of Interest was completely non-transparent, without public insight into the proposals and discussion, while the proposals submitted to the Interdepartmental Working Group by civil society organizations were not included or considered.

Transparency International of Bosnia and Herzegovina appeals to the members of the Interdepartmental Working Group to make the process of amending the Law public and transparent, and to revise the proposed solutions, but this time keeping in mind the public interest and not just the interest of public officials.