Decree of the FBiH Government will not eliminate corruption risks concerning employment

The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has not accepted the proposal made by TI BiH to give the priority to writing tests during the candidate selection process, while also refusing the suggestion to make the selection of a first-ranked candidate obligatory.

Banjaluka, 12th March 2019 – The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina issued a Decree on the Employment Procedure in the FBiH Public Sector (Decree) in order to introduce public competition procedure during the employment process, similar to the procedure conducted by the public service. Previously, Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH) has supported efforts of the FBiH Government to regulate employment practice in the entire public sector so to enable the selection of the best candidates and stop party related employments, as well as other kinds of corruptive employments.

However, according to the opinion of TI BiH, this Decree will not eliminate corruption risks, nor will it ensure the selection of the most skilled candidates in a transparent procedure. The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has not accepted the proposal made by TI BiH to give the priority to writing tests during the candidate selection process, while also refusing the suggestion to make the selection of a first-ranked candidate obligatory. So, the adopted regulation contains serious flaws in terms of elimination of the most common corruption risks revealing thus the actual intentions of the FBiH Government which clearly, and only declaratively, advocates the anti-corruption fight.

TI BiH participated in early consultations related to the Decree drafting, as it was often publicly emphasized by the Government representatives, but we need to point out that TI BiH did not have an insight into the final version of the document which was presented to us only after it had been adopted. This act of the FBiH Government also shows that there are no serious intentions to involve civil society in the creation of public policies and regulations.

 Press rls 13.3.2019_e