UNCONSTITUTIONAL BUDGET PROPOSAL SET BY KOMŠIĆ AND BEĆIROVIĆ

SARAJEVO, AUGUST 20 /SRNA/ – The head of the SNSD Club in the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly Sanja Vulić stated that the budget proposal adopted in the BiH Presidency by members Željko Komšić and Denis Bećirović is not constitutional because it includes financing for so-called cultural institutions of importance to BiH, given that those institutions fall under the jurisdiction of the entities and the cantons in the Federation of BiH.

Vulić told SRNA that the budget represents the enforcement of the alleged order of the so-called High Representative regarding the financing of cultural institutions in Sarajevo. She added that the version of the budget that the Presidency adopted yesterday by outvoting does not contain a recommendation from the Council of Ministers. According to her, the previous practice of the BiH Presidency was to authorize the Minister of Finance and Treasury in the Council of Ministers to explain on their behalf the adopted budget before the commissions and houses of the BiH Parliament, while the members themselves did not attend the sessions. "Since such a version of the budget does not contain a recommendation from the Council of Ministers, the Minister of Finance should refuse such authorization on behalf of the Ministry, so that it is not delegated to the deputy minister. Deputies and delegates should demand that the Chairman of the BiH Presidency, or a member appointed by the Presidency, attend the sessions on behalf of the proposer. The budget should not even be considered until this happens," Vulić emphasized. As for the arguments that the cultural institutions were established by the laws of the Socialist Republic of BiH and the so-called Republic of BiH, and that those regulations remain in force because the BiH Parliamentary Assembly has not annulled them nor adopted new ones, Vulić considers this to be incorrect because the BiH Parliament is not a continuation of the Assembly of the SR BiH. Since, Vulić added, culture is not a constitutional competence of BiH, all regulations on "BiH cultural institutions" cannot remain in force and are not in force upon the adoption of the Constitution, because they are in direct contradiction to it, and therefore one cannot invoke continuity of legal regulations. The Serb member of the BiH Presidency Željka Cvijanović stated yesterday that the budget adopted by Denis Bećirović and Željko Komšić is so distorted, unprofessional, and reckless that it is obvious it was created by those who have never dealt with the matter.