Parliamentarians, if they want, can save up to 1,2 million KM per year

Written by: ALMIR TERZIĆ

By giving up benefits and privileges like the lump-sum, family visits and accommodation expenses,  fees for „separate life“ and mobile phone costs and membership in ad hoc commissions, only the Parliament Assembly of BiH could save up to (according to data from January/February 2014.) 104.342,53 KM per month or 1.252.110,36 KM annually.

For this action not any special act of Joint Commission for Administrative Affairs of Parliament Assembly is needed:  it’s only needed that every MP independently or in the name of a caucuse, submits a letter to a Department for accounting, by which they waive of benefits,  same as they once submitted requests for its use.

Thereby, the initiatives for decreasing the wages and repealing of fees, that the SDA Club has lately submitted, as well as the one of SDP Club for fixing of wages rate for elected and appointed officials in institutions of BiH, are just distraction of attention.

Because it is clear there won’t be no drastic reducing of parliamentarians salaries on state level untill there’s article IX, paragraph 2 of BiH’s Constitution which states that „Compensation for persons holding office in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina may not be diminished during an officeholder’s tenure“. The attempt of adoption of amendment on BiH’s Constitution that would cancel this, has not been successful since January 2005., and the declaration about the latest solutions is being postponed to April 2014., with explanation „…providing the fact of ongoing negotiations for Constitution changes with regard to arbitration of European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg, in case of Sejdić – Finci “.

Istinomjer analysis shows that the maximum would be saved by waiver of fees by representatives and delegates of SNSD – 19.767,71 KM monthly or 237.212,52 annually.

If representatives and delegates of SDP would also waived of their privileges, it would monthly save 19.556,11 KM or 234.673,32 KM annually.

By waving of benefits by representatives and delegates of SDA, it would made monthly savings of 17.558,55 KM, or  210.702,60 KM annually.

If the representatives and delegates of HDZ BiH would waive of its privileges, it would save from  12.374,07 KM on monthly level or 148.488,84 KM annually.

Waving of fees by representatives and delegates  of SDS would save up to 8.648,11 KM monthly or 103.777,32 KM annually.

By waiving of privileges of representatives and delegates of HSP monthly savings of 4.349,22 KM would be made, or 52.190,64 KM annually.

If representatives and delegates of HDZ 1990 would waive of fees, monthly saving of 4.202,77 KM would be made, or 50.433,24 KM annually.

If representatives of SBB would no longer received their compensations, it would monthly saved 4.029,85 KM or 48.358,20 KM annually.

When the only one representative of DNZ would waived of additional fees on monthly level would be saved 3.709,05 KM or 44.508,60 KM annually.

Nermin Purić (DNZ) in total: 2.709,50 KM of allowances: representation 200 KM, mobile phone costs 150 KM, fee for family visits 1.394,82 KM, accommodation fee 475 KM, separate life 300 KM, compensation for ad hoc commission 475,69 KM, lump-sum 713,54 KM.

By giving up of premiums by the representatives and delegates of PDP (Party of Democratic Progress), monthly savings of 3.072,52 KM, or 36. 870,24 KM annually would be secured.

Mladen Ivanić (PDP) in total 2.358,98 KM charges: allowance for family visits 870,44 KM, accommodation fee 475 KM, separate life 300 KM, lump-sum 713,54 KM

Vesna Krstović – Spremo (PDP): Lump-sum 713,54 KM

If representative and delegate of DNS would give up benefits, it would result with monthly savings of 2.602,77 KM or 31.233,24 KM annually.

Dragutin Rodić (DNS) in total 1.539,23 KM of benefits: representation 200 KM, fee for costs of mobile phone 150 KM, ad hoc commission fee 475,69 KM, lump-sum 713,54 KM.

Petar Kunić  (DNS) in total 1.063,54 KM of benefits: representation 200 KM, mobile phone costs 150 KM, lump-sum 713,54 KM.

If only a representative of NSRzB would give up his compensations, it would made a monthly save of 2.569,03 KM or 30.828,36 KM annually.

Mladen Ivanković Lijanović (NSRzB) altogether 2.569,03 KM of benefits: fee for family visit 604,80 KM, accommodation fee 475 KM, separate life 300 KM, ad hoc commission fee 475,69 KM, lump-sum 713,54 KM.

By giving up on fees by representatives of SBIH, monthly savings would be made of 1.902,77 KM or 22.833,24 KM annually.

Beriz Belkić (SBiH), total 1.189,23 KM: ad hoc commission fee 475,69 KM, lump-sum 713,54 KM.

Azra Hadžiahmetović: lump-sum 713,54 KM.

And besides giving up from privileges, representatives and delegates would still have monthly payments that are about five or sometimes six times the average payment in BiH: board members Milorad Živković (SNSD), Denis Bećirović (SDP) and Božo Ljubić (HDZ 1990), as well as Staša Košarac (SNSD), Sulejman Tihić (SDA) and Dragan Čović (HDZ BiH) have the base pay of 4.138,50 KM as 20,69 KM of fee for every year of past service (for example, for ten years of service, they monthly receive 206,90 KM!).

Chairman of joint commission or of commissions of one of Houses or of caucuses: Drago Kalabić, Krstan Simić and Dušanka Majkić (SNSD), Mladen Bosić, Aleksandra Pandurević and Borislav Bojić (SDS), Petar Kunić and Dragutin Rodić (DNS), Saša Magazinović, Mirza Kušljugić, Hasan Bećirović and Danijela Martinović (SDP), Asim Sarajlić, Šefik Džaferović, Halid Genjac and Amir Fazlić (SDA), Mate Franjičević, Niko Lozančić and Borjana Krišto (HDZ BiH), Nermin Purić (DNZ) have the base pay of  4.043,37 KM as well as 20,22 KM of fee for every year of past service (such as for ten years 202,20 KM). Mirsad Đugum and Emir Kabil of SBB are not employed in BiH Parliamentary assembly.

And all the rest of the Members of Parliament  would still live more than good because of base salary of 3.995,80 KM with 19,98 KM of compensation for every year of past service  (in ten years, for example, 199,80 KM).

Everyone beside salaries and past service compensations, have also the per diem allowance of 6 KM (for January only it was 138 KM).

 Translation by: Dželil Nesimović