TI BIH submitted an initiative to the Government and Parliament of Federation of BiH for the adoption of two important anti-corruption laws from 14 priorities

Sarajevo, October 6, 2023 – Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH) sent an official initiative to the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH for the adoption of a new Law on the Prevention of Conflicts of Interest as well as the Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers, and according to the rules of procedure, this House must declare itself on the initiative in the next 30 days. TI BiH also sent a repeated initiative to the cabinet of FBiH Prime Minister, Nermin Nikšić, because it concerns two important anti-corruption laws from the 14 EU priorities that the Government of FBiH withdrew from the procedure in May this year and never sent back to the Parliament.

Even then, TI BiH warned that these laws had undergone certain procedures and harmonization and that significant time would be lost, while numerous officials will take advantage of the fact that they continue to be in a conflict of interest, perform multiple functions and allocate public money and jobs to their own private companies and associations. The failure to adopt these laws, as well as numerous appointments made recently by the FBiH Government, where persons directly in conflict of interest were appointed to important positions, are contrary to the declarative determination of this Government to fulfill the conditions from 14 priorities. This was openly expressed in the case of the appointment of the son of the FBiH Minister of Internal Affairs, Rama Isak, as the director of a public institution, as well as in the assignment of important jobs by certain public companies to minister’s family company. Such moves have shown that the government clearly has no intention of adequately regulating this area in the near future, so TI BiH expects an official explanation.

It should also be recalled that it has been 10 years since there is no competent authority in this entity to which cases of conflicts of interest can be reported, and that numerous institutions completely ignore the existence of this law when appointing or allocating budget funds to organizations and private companies run by public officials. According to the latest data from TI BiH, 241 officials in FBiH perform more than one function in public enterprises and public institutions, and many have additional engagements in non-profit organizations financed from the budget.

In the initiative sent to the Government and Parliament, TI BiH reminds that the Federation of BiH is the only level of government that does not legally protect corruption whistleblowers and that public sector employees who decide to report irregularities still do not have institutional protection. Finally, bearing in mind the determination of the new authorities in the FBiH to fulfill the requirements from 14 priorities, a large part of which relates to the entities and not only to the state level, TI BiH once again appeals for the adoption of these important laws that are crucial for the rule of law and fight against corruption.