CCI has published annual reports an the work of legislative and executive authorities in BiH for 2011. CCI conducts monitoring and analysis of work of these institutions in all levels of BiH power - cantons, entities and state level. What was their performanse like and how can it be related to real needs of BiH society you can read further in the text. We present summaries of work of governments and entity assemblies, BiH Parliamentary Assembly and BiH Council of Ministers. These activities are implemented within CAPP 2 project and they are financially supported by the USAID.

REPORT SUMMARY: BiH PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY

Bosnia and Herzegovina, like the most countries in the region, is faced with the problem of too big foreign debt, so that in the situation where the financial and economic crisis is still present, when the expected and loudly announced development of our country did not happen, where there are no new jobs opened and when more and more workers are laid off and the employment bureaus record more than 530.000 unemployed at the end of 2011, and all the relevant analyses show a negative trend in terms of the new investments in our country, the granted loans i.e. the assumed debts should be repaid.  An additional problem is presented by the fact that most of those who work, especially in the real sector of economy, can hardly make ends meet, with the average salary of a worker in the industry about 400 KM, which is less than ¼ of the consumer basket for a four-member family, the cost of which is more than 1.600,00 KM.  Needless to mention the longer and longer queues in front of the restaurants serving free meals to the needy people, dozens of thousands of the citizens in our country in need of medical services who do not have healthcare insurance, those who have any kind of job, and then for months and even for years do not get their earned salaries, etc.  All this shows a situation where more and more of our citizens fight for bare subsistence, persistently keeping quiet in their suffering, (for how long, no-one knows) and getting into a great despair.  Almost ¼ of the population, who are on the verge of the so-called „extreme poverty“, also live in despair,  joined by most BH pensioners, with the lowest pensions in the Republic of Srpska amounting to about 162 KM, and in BiH Federation about 310 KM, as well as many other people. On the other hand, those who live the best in our country are the „politicians“ at the state level (most of them), who, at the same time, are not able to adopt at least a few 'European' laws in the last year, 2011, who were not able to form the BH Council of Ministers within a reasonable time, or take more decisive steps toward implementing the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case Sejdic vs. Finci, being a key requirement for our country to applying for a candidate status on its road toward full membership in EU.  In addition to all this, it took almost 9 months for BiH Parliamentary Assembly to be constituted in full capacity (The House of Peoples was not constituted in full capacity until 29 June 2011), and more than 16 months, after the elections held in BiH, in 2010, to finally constitute BiH Council of Ministers (it was constituted only on 10 February 2012), which, throughout the last year worked in the so-called „technical mandate“.   Something that is simply devastating both for the authorities and the leaders of political parties in our country, speaking of implementation of the election results, is the awareness that it took our neighbour, the Republic of Croatia, only about 20 days after holding the elections at the end of 2011 to form both the legislative and executive branches of the government, and only 30 days for government institutions after holding the parliamentary elections to work at full capacity.   Throughout that time, BiH Parliamentary Assembly, from the moment of its constitution until the end of 2011 (about 6 or 7 months),  worked without adopted orientation work plans for both houses of BH PA for 2011, without the adopted Budget for BH Institutions and BH International Obligations for 2011,  until the last day of the last year (31 December 2011), when the same was adopted, without formed parliamentary majority. At the same time, the Council of Ministers, worked in the whole last year in the so-called „technical mandate“. All this gave more than modest results in terms of legislative activities, having in mind that BiH Parliamentary Assembly adopted only 12 laws in the year 2011.    Something that additionally 'degraded' the altogether too small a number of adopted laws in both BiH PA Houses in 2011, is the fact that as many as 15 bills were refused or 3 bills more compared to the number of adopted bills in both BiH PA, which brought the BiH PA, for the first time, in a situation where in one year, more laws were refused than adopted. This is a sufficient indication in its own right of the work and the assumed obligations of the representatives and delegates of BiH PA, i.e. of the lack of their accountability toward the citizens-voters, to whom they had made 'big' promises before the last general elections in our country.   The mentioned result in the plan of legislative activities, in addition to constant political blockade at the state level, is also a result of insufficient efforts by the representatives and delegates themselves, who worked only 124 hours or 15,5 eight-hour working days (representatives of the House of Representatives spent a total of 97,27 hours or 12.2 eight-hour working days actually working, in 17 plenary sessions, while the representatives/delegates of the House of Peoples spent a total of 26.32 hours or 3.3 eight-hour working days actually working, in 10 plenary sessions. Also, in 122 sessions of parliamentary /commissions of both houses of BiH PA in 2011, the representatives and delegates spent 128,46 hours working or 16 eight-hour working days.  Therefore, in 27 held plenary sessions of both houses of BiH PA, and in 122 sessions of all parliamentary commissions in the last year, the delegates spent a total of 252 hours or 31,5 eight-hour working days – working. At 17 sessions held by BiH PA House of Representatives, from 01 January to 31 December 2011,  38 delegates’ initiatives were started representatives Zijad Jagodic, SDA and Mato Franjicevic, HDZBiH, started 5 delegate’s initiatives, each), and the total of 310 delegates’ questions were asked (and 192 questions were answered). It is noteworthy that 5 delegates did not ask any delegate’s question in the year 2011, without counting the representatives Nikola Spiric, SNSD, Barisa Colak, HDZBiH and Senad Sepic, SDA, who ‘stayed’ their representative mandate, and continued holding their offices in BiH Council of Ministers, all the time until the appointment of the new BH Council of Ministers, which did not happen in the last year (2011).  Representatives/delegates of the House of Peoples of BH PA started only two initiatives in the last year (by the delegate Mehmed Bradaric, SDPBiH), and asked only 37 deputy/delegate questions (they got the answers to 12 asked questions).  As far as the legislative activities are concerned, the former composition of BiH PA was more efficient than the current one, given the fact that BiH Parliamentary Assembly adopted 40 laws in 2007, which is almost 3.5 times more than the current composition of BiH PA, which adopted only 12 laws in the last year. In 2007, 20 bills were refused (out of adopted 40), while the representatives and the delegates of BiH PA refused 15 bills in 2011, compared to 12 bills that were adopted. Compared to the parliaments from the neighbouring countries, we can see seriousness in work and in work attitude of our neighbors from Croatia and Serbia, as well as their real, rather than only declarative commitment for the European Union, based on the fact that the Croatian Parliament enacted 233 laws in only 10 months of 2011 (the Croatian Parliament was dismissed due to parliamentary elections at the end of October 2011), which is by about 19.5 times more than the number of laws enacted by BH PA in the last year, i.e. 12 laws, and by 63 laws more than the number of laws enacted by BH Parliamentary Assembly in 4 years of the previous composition (2006-2010) – 170 laws were enacted. Also, in the last year (2011), the National Parliament of the Republic of Serbia adopted 206 laws, which is 17 times compared to those adopted by BiH Parliament, and it is noteworthy that only in the last quarter 2011, i.e. during the period 01 October – 31 December 2011,112 laws were enacted, which is about 9.5 times more than those adopted by BiH Parliament, i.e. 12. On the other hand, if we add up the number of adopted laws in BiH Parliamentary Assembly (12), and in the entity parliaments, during the period 01 January -31 December 2011 (BH Federation Parliament adopted 30 laws, while the Republic of Srpska National Assembly adopted 82 laws), we can see that a total of 124 laws were adopted, i.e. adopted by the state parliament, and the entities' parliaments during 2011, which means that the three parliaments adopted 109 laws less than did the Croatian Parliament in 2011 – 233 laws, and 82 laws less than the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia –206 adopted laws.   Something that additionally shows a lack of serious approach in work of BiH Parliament, that is to say an „ad-hoc“ approach to solving the accumulated problems,  in addition to the work without adopted orientation work plans, is the work without the approved Budget of BiH institutions and International Obligations for 2011, which was adopted, first of all, in a very unusual way, and with a one-year delay – on the last day of 2011. (It was adopted by the House of Representatives on 30 December 2011, and by the House of Peoples on 31 December 2011), despite the disagreement of the opposition, first of all of SBBBiH and SBiH, and despite the determination that such a procedure of adoption of the Budget means lack of moral and political responsibility of BiH Parliamentary Assembly.  This was one of the reasons that over 23.000 employees, financed from the budget of BiH institutions, got their salaries for January 2011 with quite a delay, thus clearly showing that the political parties leaders care much more about their 'petty' party interests, putting them in front of prompt solving of the problems of citizens of this country, faster progress on the Euro-Atlantic road of BiH, and even of the rights of the state institutions employees to get their salaries on time.  The analysis of salaries and other benefits of BH parliament members during the period 01 January to 31 December 2011 has shown that their average income amounted to about 6.072 KM (without allowances, per diems and remuneration for the work in ad-hoc commissions), which means that the total income received by our parliament members ranges from 5.000 – 7.500 KM, meaning that those among the „better paid“ representatives and delegates of both houses of BH PA can earn in 4 years over 300.000, which is the sum that most of BH citizens cannot earn for all of their years of service, (the employees with the average salary of about 800 KM should work more than 30 years for that amount).   The total amount paid for the salaries and other income of 47 professionally hired representatives/delegates of both BHPA houses) in 2011 was over 3.5 mil KM, along with an additional approximate amount of 1.630.000 KM (gross amount) for the representatives and delegates of BHPA, whose mandate is over and who get the salaries in the amount of 4.300-5.000 KM for the full 12 months.  Therefore, everything stated above shows that in the last year, 2011, over 5 mill. KM was paid from BH institutions budget, for salaries and other income of the representatives and delegates of BH PA, including the mentioned 1.630.000 KM for the salaries of the representatives and the delegates after the end of their term.  Bearing in mind that in 2011, a total of 27 plenary sessions of both BH PA houses were held (House of Representatives – 17 sessions, and House of Peoples – 10 sessions), it is not difficult to calculate that, from the point of view of total allocations for salaries and other income of BH PA representatives and delegates, in the period from 01 Jan to 31 December, if we deduct the salaries for representatives and delegates whose term of office is over, the „cost“ of one held plenary session was about 130.000 KM, while the cost of one adopted law was considerably higher, amounting to about 295.000 KM (12 laws were enacted in 2011).   Speaking of the salaries of the representatives and the delegates of BH PA, after the expiry of term of office, CCI will soon start an initiative that this issue be regulated in another way, i.e. by cutting the amounts by double, so that „former“ representatives/delegates receive 50% of the salary that they received during their term of office, while keeping the time period in which such salaries are given, i.e. during 12 months after the end of office. In this way, 50% of allocated funds for these purposes would be saved in the Budget of BH Institutions and BH International Obligations.  The end goal is to adjust the said income with the amount of 3 average salaries in our country (3,5 at the maximum), being a „European“ standard to which we should aspire speaking of their monthly salaries during the term of their office, that would amount to about 2.400 -2.500 KM, i.e. almost 30.000 KM for 12 months.  Of mentioned 12 laws enacted during the period 01 January – 31 Dec 2011, there were no fundamental laws, as all the laws that were enacted were the amendments to the already existing laws. It is also noteworthy that there were a total of 37 bills in the parliamentary procedure of BH PA, of which a little less than 1/3 were enacted, and 15 bills were refused, while 10 proposed bills remained in the parliamentary procedure of both BH PA houses, as of 31 December 2011.  If we look at how long 12 adopted laws 'spent' in the parliamentary procedure of BH Parliamentary Assembly, we can see that this was about 235 days or 7.8 months for the parliamentary procedure, which is twice as long compared to the laws that were enacted in the former composition of BH PA (2006-2010), where the average length of the parliamentary procedure for adopted laws was about 3.5 months.  Of mentioned 12 adopted laws, the law that spent most time in the parliamentary procedure was the Law on Amendment to the Law on Use and Protection of the Name of Bosnia and Herzegovina (375 days or 12.5 months), while the law that spent the shortest time in the parliamentary procedure was the Law on Amendments to the Law on Bosnia and Herzegovina Customs Policy (a total of 65 days or a little more than 2 months).   Of the laws that were refused in BH Parliamentary Assembly during the last year, the Proposed Law on Application of the Results of Analysis of Deoxyribonucleic Acid in Court Procedures spent the most time in BH PA (even 702 days or almost full 2 years), as it 'entered' the procedure on 25 January 2010, but was „refused“ in the House of Peoples.  We got the information from the relevant services of BH PA that only three representatives of BH PA (Adnan Bašić, SBBBiH, Ismeta Dervoz, SBBBiH, and Sulejman Tihić, SDA),  give certain amounts for humanitarian purposes through relevant services of BH PA, and that some new allocations for humanitarian purposes have been announced. In 2011 too, the transparency of work of BH Parliamentary Assembly was one of more positive segments of work of the highest legislative body in BiH.  Among other things, it takes less time for the first reports from the sessions held, the results of individual votes in sessions, notices from held sessions, minutes, video records, representatives'/delegates' questions, transcripts etc., to be posted on BH Parliament website BiH (www.parlament.ba) than before. This is very important for all interested persons.  Finally, the work of BH Parliamentary Assembly during 2011 was characterized by the following:

Significant delay in constituting – it was not before 29 June 2011 that the BH PA was constituted in full capacity;

Work without the Work Program of Both Houses of BH Parliamentary Assembly throughout 2011;

Working without the Budget of BH Institutions for 2011, until 31 December, 2011, when it was adopted;

Work without the parliamentary majority was slowed down – the Council of Ministers worked in the so-called „technical mandate“;

Lack of political will to adopt 2-3 „European“ laws – a requirement for a candidate status of BiH;

Low performance in work of BH PA – only 12 laws adopted – three more (15) refused;

Difficulties in implementing the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in case Sejdić-Finci;

Insufficiently good coordination between the houses, as well as between BH Parliament and BH Council of Ministers;

Tendency toward wasting energy on „harmonizing“ strictly party interests, at the expense of interest of citizens;

Lack of readiness to do more on creating a better ambiance for foreign investments;

Lack of dedication to solve the burning problems of citizens, in accordance with BH PA competences;

Lack of clear responsibility for bad results and for consequences of non-fulfillment of commitments undertaken;

Visible differences in personal responsibility toward the work among the representatives and delegates of BH PA;

The announcement of “temporary suspension” of visa regime for BH citizens, because, in 2011, due to the increased number of asylum seekers in EU countries, some member countries of EU reacted, expressing their concern due to violation of the rules set for the visa regime, which is certainly not in the interest of BH citizens.

The agreement that was reached between the leaders of 6 political parties, on 28 December 2011, was a guarantee for faster adoption of key „European laws“, intensifying the activities on implementing the judgment in the case Sejdic-Finci, adoption of the Budget for BH institutions and International Obligations for 2011, and constituting the new composition of BH Council of Ministers, 16 months after the elections; on the other hand, one may rightly ask why this took so long and whose (or what) interests were a reason for delay.

SUMMARY: BH COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

Throughout 2001 the Council of Ministers operated in it temporary capacity – i.e. technical mandate – with noticeable lack of interest of political parties' leaders who had power to solve this problem much earlier than it really happened – at the beginning of 2012.

At the end of 2011, we could see that Bosnia and Herzegovina was the only country in the area of the European continent that functioned without the adopted state budget over a period of 365 days.  At the same time, Bosnia and Herzegovina was without the annual work program for the state government, i.e. BiH Council of Ministers.  By this we explicitly mean continuous violation of the Rules of Procedures of this institution and the provision that requires adoption of the annual work plan, as well as non-compliance with the Law on Financing BH Institutions.

In the period January – December 2011, the Council of Ministers had 26 regular sessions, four extraordinary sessions and the continuation of one regular session.  On the whole, there were a total of 1092 different measures that were positively implemented in sessions held. 

Looking at the whole of 2011, the ministers and the chairman of BH Council of Ministers did not spend even three eight-hour working days in session. One of the ministers, the minister of BH foreign affairs attended only 32% of sessions held.

In terms of the number of implemented measures, the year 2011, along with 2007, was the worst year. At the same time, according to the information that CCI have, there were a lot of reports, information, by-laws and laws prepared in the ministries, but there was no political will on the part of the ministers to discuss them in BH Council of Ministers as long as this institution operated in temporary capacity.

In 365 days of 2011, BH Council of Ministers approved only 25 different bills – which were „unplanned“, considering the lack of work program.  4 fundamental bills and 21 amendments were approved.  A few approved bills on the annual level have already been in the procedure for 5 years, and the year 2011 was especially bad in that regard. 

For the sake of comparison, during the same time period in 2011, the Government of the neighbouring Montenegro approved 6 times more bills than BH Council of Ministers (151 bills), while the government of Serbia approved 8.5 times more bills (211) and of Croatia 10 times more bills (257).

In February, May, June, October and November 2011, BH Council of Ministers did not approve a single bill in the sessions that were held.  In Bosnia and Herzegovina there were 5 months in the last  year without a single bill approved, while none of the mentioned countries: Montenegro, Serbia and Croatia, nor Slovenia had a single month like that in the previous year. 

To sum up, after 5 full years of mandate, the Council of Ministers approved only 219 different bills (less than Croatia in one year), while 225 bills, although planned during the period 2006-2010, remained unrealized. 

If we come back to the catastrophically bad situation of the state authorities in BiH in the year 2011, we will see that at the end of the year, even three ministries (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees and Defense Ministry) did not implement a single law.  BH Justice Ministry did the best job in this regard.  However, of 8 bills approved by the Council of Ministers at the proposal of BH Justice Ministry, only the „Law on Amendments to the Law on Associations and Foundations of Bosnia and Herzegovina“ was adopted in BH PA, while as many as 5 were refused by the Parliament.  

Speaking of the parliamentary status of the laws in 2011, we must first of all say that this process started only on 09 June, when the constitution of both Houses was finished. During seven months of its work, i.e. as of 31 December 2011, in its discussion of the laws submitted to the procedure by BH Council of Ministers, the number of laws that BH Parliament refused was three times bigger (9) than adopted (3)!

Eight of nine refused laws were refused based on the use of the institute of the entity voting by the Republic of Srpska delegates.  It was only the „Law on Amendments to the Law on Public Radio-Television System of BiH“ that was not rejected based on entity voting, i.e. it did not get the votes of the majority.  What happened in this regard in 2011 is no novelty, as it is not difficult to see that about 80% of the laws that were rejected in BH PA during 2006 – 2011, were rejected upon negative votes of RS delegates.

Looking on the whole, during a 5 year period, BH PA adopted only 132 bills approved by BH Council of Ministers; it is noteworthy that with this result not even the quantitative plan of BH Parliamentary Assembly for 2007 was accomplished. Namely, at that time the plan for BH PA was to enact 135 laws and for the Council of Ministers to approve 112 bills.

Year after year there were fewer and fewer measures that could contribute to, more significantly or in a longer term, solving of some of the most priority problems of BH citizens, such as unemployment, high level of poverty, unorganized and uneven social policy, high level of corruption, lack of foreign investment, slow movement of BH toward European and NATO integrations, as well as inadequate position of the young people in BiH.  There were the least such measures in 2011, and when we were able to recognize them, only 10 or 0.9% in comparison to the total 1092 implemented measures (The Law on BH Customs Tariff, the Law on System of State Aid in BiH, the Decision on Founding the Forum for Development and Promotion of Entrepreneurship in Bosnia and Herzegovina, etc.)

For everything that the Council of Ministers did during the period 2007 – 2011, or rather for a lot more that they could have done, the members of this institution received 2.900.000 KM given to them by BH citizens (only for net salaries, allowances, allowances for separated life and meals). During all that time they did not refrain from unscrupulously enjoying all the other benefits brought by their offices, such as countless trips and per diems, use of official cars, dining at the expense of citizens etc. 

At the end we should end that 480 days after holding of the last general elections, the new BiH Council of Ministers was finally formed in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The eleventh composition of BH Council of Ministers was ratified on 10 February 2012.   We should also add that the former Council of Ministers, having worked for one year without the adopted work plan in 2011, for the first time after 5 years created the Work Program of this Institution for 2012 on time.  It sounds almost like a paradox that the same people who had worked one year without a plan, for the first time prepared the annual work plan on time, for their actual successors in ministers' chairs in the Council of Ministers.

REPORT: GOVERNMENT OF BH FEDERATION

In the year 2011, ending with 31^st regular session of the current composition of the Government of BH Federation, that was held on 29 December 2011, a total of 54 sessions of BH Federation Government were held, of which 43 sessions of the current – fifth composition, and 11 sessions of the previous composition of the Federal Government.

The members of both the previous and the current BH Federation Government spent on the whole a little more than 27 eight-hour working days in session.  More precisely, they spent 219 hours and 05 minutes in the conference halls in Sarajevo and Mostar, which totals to a little more than 4 hours per session, on the average.

The BH Federation Government stated its positive opinion regarding 1741 different measures during one year, of which 3.9% were laws.  In the months of May, July and December 2011, the current Government discussed more than 200 measures, and the maximum number of measures discussed was in December – 259 measures.

Let's remind ourselves that since 2006, in four years of the mandate, looking by months, the previous Federal Government discussed more than 200 measures on two occasions alone – 221 measures in July 2009 and 246 measures in December 2010.

If we look at the types of implemented measures during 2011, we will see that the biggest number of adopted measures were different in nature – more than 35% of those totally implemented.  At the same time, if we look at a field that the measures dealt with we will see that most measures had to do with the „staffing policy“. More precisely, 402 measures or 23% of totally implemented during the year 2011 relate to dismissals and appointments for offices in various institutions as well as for Management and Supervisory Boards.  If we draw a parallel with the previous composition of the Government, in the first months of work, during the same time period, that Government had 7% measures that we can characterize as „staffing issues“ out of total implemented measures.

Further, considering the Work Program for the year 2011, the Federation Government planned 494 measures for the implementation in the sessions of this institution and/or for publishing in the Federation Official Gazette, i.e. on ministries' websites.  At the end of the year, 340 measures were implemented, which represents a degree of the implementation of the annual plan at the level of 69%.  In this respect, the result in 2011 is by far the best in the past 5 years.  For the sake of comparison, the previous Government worked in 2009 without the adopted work program, and did not accomplish more than a half of its plan in any year of its entire mandate.

Taking into account the complexity of the plan set for the year 2011, a positive example among the Ministries was shown by the Finance Ministry, headed by the minister Ante Krajina.

Speaking in percentages, at the end of the year there are as many as 10 ministries with the degree of of accomplishment of the annaul work program exceeding 70%, of which 4 are the ministries with the efficiency higher than 80% and the Ministry of Education and Science with 93% of realized planned activities. 

Only the Justice Ministry of BiH Federation did not pass the envisaged threshold of 50% of the realization of the annual work program.

Speaking of legislative activities, of 85 planned different laws in 2011, 47 bills were approved by the Federation Government, which makes 55% of the annual plan.  The fourth quarter of 2011 was the most successful quarter regarding the realization of the laws from the Work Program – in the last 5 years.  As many as 24 bills from the annual program of the Government were adopted, which is more than the result accomplished in the first nine months of 2011.

Among 85 planned laws, there are 44 fundamental laws, while 41 laws relate to the amendments to the existing laws.  Coming back to the approved 47 bills from the plan, we see that 24 fundamental laws have been implemented, while 23 of them were the amendments. 

In addition to those planned in the annual Work Program, the Federal Government approved 21 draft laws outside of the plan, by which we arrive at the total of 68 bills approved by the Government in total for the 12 months of the previous year.  By the number of prepared unplanned laws, the drafts of which were approved by the F BiH Government during 2011, the Justice Ministry leads with the implementation of 9 unplanned laws.  Furthermore, in the annual program of this ministry, 7 unrealized laws remained.  

Speaking of planned and unplanned laws on the whole, the Finance Ministry was the most productive, at whose proposal the Federal Government approved the total of 15 bills in 12 months of 2011.  Currently, the ministry that is lagging behind the most, with 9 unrealized laws, is the Ministry of Energy, Mining and Industry (7 approved bills, of 16 planned).  

With the total of 68 approved bills during 2011, the current Government has 12 more bills approved compared to the first mandate year (2007) of the previous Government.

Furthermore, of 68 approved bills of the current Government in 2011, 45 were approved in the form of the proposal, and 23 in the form of draft laws. 

Of 45 proposals, only 19 bills passed the entire parliamentary procedure.  Another problem that is noticeable when we look at the scarce list of the laws adopted by the Federal Parliament, upon the proposal of the current Government, is reflected in the fact that only 11 laws were adopted, that are also a part of this year's Government, i.e. of the Parliament Program.  Therefore, only 13% of the laws planned by the Work Program of FBiH Government for 2011 went through the entire parliamentary procedure; it is also noteworthy that all these laws were a part of the plan of the Federal Parliament too.

Statistics shows that as of the beginning of the mandate of the current Federal Government until the end of 2011, the BiH Federation Parliament adopted only 6 fundamental laws, the bills of which were prepared and approved by the Government of prime minister Niksic. 

Of total number of implemented measures in 2011, 395 measures to a certain extent deal with the most important problems of the citizens (unemployment, health, social and pension policy, corruption, the problems of the young, etc.).  Among them there 32 that are particularly important for the mentioned priority problems of the citizens.

Let us look once again at and compare certain positive indicators from the year 2011, that we arrived at by comparing the first mandate years of the current and the previous BiH Federation Government: 

The current Government held 3 sessions more than the previous Government, during the same period; 

The current Government implemented 399 measures more compared to its predecessors;

The attendance of the ministries of the current Government in the Government sessions was on the average higher;

In terms of time, the previous Government spent less time in sessions – about one hour less per session;

The current Government approved 12 bills more than the previous Government;

It should also be added that the current Government was by 36% more efficient in the implementation of its plan of the first mandate year, compared to its predecessors.

On the other hand, both the previous and the current compositions of the Government, in their first mandate year, cannot boast that they had a big number of implemented measures that are more significantly related to the real problems of the Federation citizens, such as unemployment, undeveloped health and social protection, problematic pension system, high degree of corruption, unreformed public administration, non-functional public companies, lack of investment in the agricultural sector, etc.  

In addition to that, something negative that both Governments have in common is a generally insufficient degree of efficiency when it comes to the realization of planned laws (strategy), and slow procedure of realization of the approved bills in BiH Federation Parliament.

Finally, we must commend the efforts made by the Federal Government, as well as by the Institute for Programming the BiH Federation Development, and we must say that after 5 years, the annual work program of the Government was adopted on time, finally without violating the Rules of Procedures. 

However, looking at the Work Program of the Government for the Year 2012, it is not quite clear whether it aims more at satisfying the form, rather than dealing with what is essential. Namely, the Annual Work Program of the Federal Government was written on 373 pages, while it would require a long analysis and careful consideration of statistical to see how many and which bills the Government planned to approved in the current year in its sessions, and how many strategies, decisions, regulations, information, reports and other measures it planned to adopt.  At the same time, the data from the Work Program designed in this way seem incomparable with the data from the Work Program of the Government for the previous years.

SUMMARY: BH FEDERATION PARLIAMENT

The House of Representatives started its constituting in accordance with legally prescribed deadlines.  On the other hand, the House of Peoples was not able to implement this process during the same time period as some cantonal assemblies did not elect their delegates.  Also, the position of the vice-president is still vacant, because the leaders of political parties did not reach an agreement. 

The House of Representatives and the House of Peoples of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH, in the first year of the current mandate composition, held a total of 29 sessions during 37 calendar days.

Compared to 2007 (the first year of the previous mandate), no special departures happened in terms of the number of sessions held, while, speaking of the implementation of the measures, especially in comparison with all the following years of the mandate (2006-2010) significant oscillations were noted, as well as a decrease in the last two years.   

Both Houses of the current composition, in the first year of 2011, spent effectively 230 hours in session, which is an equivalent of the time spent in session by the previous parliament, in two years, and is equal to 11% of available working days in the year 2011.  However, an increase in effective number of hours spent in plenary sessions compared to the years of the previous assembly, did not result in big changes in terms of the efficiency of this highest legislative institution: in 2011, both houses of FBH P adopted a total of 30 laws in form of the proposal, which is only 4 laws more compared to the year 2007, the first year of the previous mandate. 

During the first seven months both houses of BH Federation Parliament worked without a Work Program.  This document was adopted by the House of Representatives in form of a proposal at the end of month of July, while the House of Peoples worked without the annual program the whole time, i.e. without adopting the conclusion on acceptance of the Work Program of the House of Representatives of FBH P for the year 2011[1].

In the Program of Work of BH Federation Parliament, that was received from BH Federation Government for the year 2011[2],  there were 85 different laws planned.  Among 85 planned laws, there are 45 fundamental laws, and 40 relate to the amendments to the existing laws.  By the end of 2011, FBiH Government submitted 47 laws that were planned by the program in the procedure, i.e. more than 50%, which is almost by a half more compared to the number of the bills planned and sent to the procedure in the year 2007.  

In addition to the longest delay in adopting the Work Program, compared to the previous years, except for the year 2007, when this document was not adopted at all, in the same year we saw an extremely low degree of implementation of the same document: i.e. the total of 13% of the laws planned in the program were implemented, which represents exactly the same implementation compared to the election year, 2010.  In the first year of the previous mandate,  15% of planned legal obligations were fulfilled, in 2008 only 16% of the laws planned by the program were implemented, and in 2009, the implementation percentage was a little higher, so that every fifth planned law was implemented (21% of the planned).

27 laws in form of draft (of which 18 are in the Work Program) were adopted jointly by the House of Representatives and the House of Peoples of BH Federation Parliament. Eighteen (18) accepted drafts were submitted to the public debate with different implementation schedules.  Of the said 18 laws, thirteen (13) are from the Work Program for the year 2011.  The previous parliament assembly did not have such a common practice of submission of the laws for the public debate, so that the present assembly's practice of submission of more than 60% of the adopted drafts to the public debate partly resulted in low realization of the legislative part of the Work Program and partly contributed to higher inclusion of interest groups.

A total of 83 laws were discussed in 2011, of which 30 were adopted in both Houses in form of proposal.  27 laws were approved by both Houses in form of draft, 4 laws were not adopted, 6 were withdrawn, 3 laws are pending decision, 1 law is being adjusted and 12 more are in the procedure.  (7 proposals and 4 drafts were implemented in the House of Representatives and 1 law was implemented in the House of Peoples in form of draft, and in the House of Representatives it was withdrawn in form of proposal). Of total number of discussed laws, 78 were proposed by the Government, 5 were proposed by the following representatives/delegates, clubs: Irfan Ajanović, Jasmin Duvnjak (SDA), Club of the delegates of the Bosniac people in House of Peoples and the club of delegates of SDA in the House of Representatives and the Club of the Delegates from among the Bosniac people.  Draft law on forestry was jointly proposed by Slaviša Šućur (SDP) and Enver Mujala (SDA), representatives in the House of Representatives of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Parliament. 

The Decision on Temporary Financing of BH Federation for the period 01 January – 31 March 2011 in the amount of 320.696.946 KM was adopted by the House of Representatives in 1^st extraordinary session held on 18 January 2011. The same decision was imposed by the High Representative in BiH in the House of Peoples.  The budget of BH Federation for 2011 was discussed and adopted in an urgent procedure in extraordinary sessions held at the end of March in the amount of 1.699.318.422 KM). Proposed amendments to the FBiH Budget for 2011 was adopted by FBiH Government in the amount of 1.735.797.000 KM, which is by 36.5 million KM or by 2.15 % more compared to the revised budget. One of the three amendments to the reprogramming that the Government of BH Federation accepted as its own and that became an integral part of the Proposed Amendments to the Budget referred to the amendment of the Administrative Commission, an increase in the amount for travel expenses for the House of Representatives by 50 thousand KM, in the amount of hiring by 20 thousand KM, the amount of current maintenance by 15 thousand and the amount of contracted services by 300 thousand, i.e. the total of 385 thousand KM. 

In terms of the relations between the Government and FBiH Parliament, the delegates of the Croatian Democratic Party of BiH and of the Croatian Democratic Community 1990 still refuse to accept legitimacy of BH Federation Government, and persistently point that out at the beginning of each plenary session. 

The thematic session „Detecting and Removing Administrative Barriers in order to Improve the Business Environment in BH Federation“ was held on 19 October by the House of Representatives of FBiH P.  Based on the conclusion of the House of Representatives, a Team for Conclusion was formed – composed of the representatives of all the parties represented in the House of Representatives of BH Federation Parliament. It came forward with the final version of conclusions.  The material includes proposals for initiating new legal solutions and for amending the existing ones[3] that are within the competence of BH Federation, as well as recommendations for certain changes in legislative at the state level, all to the end of improving the existing legal solutions and creating pre-conditions for better business environment and encouraging investments.  The material was forwarded to BH Federation Government, with the proposal that it be used as a basis for preparation of the Program of Work of FBiH Government for 2012.  

Something that happened at the beginning of the mandate, when more than 90% of questions were answered from the first to the second regular session, did not become the practice, as this percentage decreased with time. This fact was constantly objected to by the delegates, and finally resulted in adoption of the conclusion[4] at the session of the House of Representatives, held on 23 November 2011, by which the house of Representatives of BH Federation Parliament obliges the president and the vice-presidents of BH Federation, as well as the BH Federation Government to abide by the provisions of the Rules of Procedures of House of representatives of BH Federation Parliament (Articles 106 and 117), meaning that is their obligation to attend the sessions of this House at the time of asking and answering the representatives' questions, starting initiatives and discussing the laws within the competence of certain ministers.

The following initiative was also adopted at the same session: the House of representatives of the Parliament of BH Federation accepts the initiative[5] that all the representatives' questions and answers as well as the initiatives be posted on the website of the House of Representatives of BH Federation Parliament, as of the date when they were asked i.e. when they were answered. The implementation deadline is 30 days, with a requirement to retroactively deal with all questions, answers and initiatives from the beginning of this mandate. This initiative has not been implemented by the time this report was made. 

Only one fourth of the total number of delegates in the House of Representatives of BH F P (98) from eight political parties acted individually[6] in the field of amendments, i.e. they proposed 38 amendments during 2011.  Of 25 members of parliament who proposed the amendments during the discussion on the laws on the agenda, most of them, i.e. 6, were from HDZ BiH, five from SDA, five from SBB, three from SDP, three[7] from SBiH and one member from DNZ, NSRZB and ASDA, respectively.  Eighty-three (83) members from all the political parties in the House of Representatives of BH F P asked a total of 518 questions and started 90 initiatives during 10 regular sessions, that were held by this House in 2011.  During one session only, the 7^th regular session, 92 MPs' questions were asked and 13 initiatives were started, of which most related to the amendments of the legislation.  More than 30% of questions were asked by the members of Savez za bolju buducnost (SBB) in the House of Representatives, and they are followed by the members of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) and of the Croatian Democratic Party (HDZ BiH) with 18% of total number of asked questions during the delegates’ hour, each. [8]  The members of parliament that were the most active during the delegates’ hour were Mirza Ustamujić (SBB) who asked 47 questions and proposed 10 initiatives, Hafeza Sabljaković (DNZ) who asked 35 questions, Hazim Kapić and Mirvad Kurić from SBB who asked 24 questions each and Fehim Škaljić (SBB) and Jasmin Duvnjak (SDA) who asked 20 MPs' questions, each.

Eleven (11) delegates in the House of Peoples of BH Federation Parliament proposed a total of 19 amendments, of which a half was proposed by three delegates from the Delegates' Club from among the Croatian people, from Croatian Democratic Community BiH (HDZ BiH).  A total of 7 regular sessions were held by the House of Peoples of FBiH P in 2011, during which 107 delegates' questions were asked and 35 initiatives started.  Delegates who were the most active within the delegates' hour were: Josip Perić (HSP) who asked 10 questions and submitted 3 initiatives, then Slobodan Tomić (NSRZB) with 8 delegate questions, Elvira Abdić Jelenović (DNZ) and Radoje Vidović (HDZ BIH) with 7 asked questions each, and Drago Puzigaća (SNSD) with 6 delegates' questions.  Most questions and initiatives, as it was the case with the House of Representatives, were generally addressed to FBiH Government. 

In BH Federation Parliament, a problem that still exists is a big number of unjustified absences from plenary sessions. This is shown by the registered number of those who are absent with a good cause and the total number of members/delegates who are absent during the vote. This problem is particularly evident in the House of Representatives.  It is not known whether such a careless attitude by not so few elected representatives toward their elected office reflects in the size of their monthly income.  However, we will now only bring attention to one of the many conclusions stated by the Parliamentary commission[9] in charge of audit in its audit report on FBiH Budget for 2009 and 2010, which equally refers to both Houses of FBiH Parliament[10], which implies that adequate records of attendance should be kept of professionalized members and that based on that the calculation and payment of the fees that are not salaries in nature should be made.

After the ratification of the newly elected RS Government by the RS Constitutional Court on 31 January 2011, from 03 February 2011, when the first session in the new composition was held, until the end of September, a total of 74 sessions were held – 49 regular sessions, 12 extraordinary and 13 thematic. In these sessions, including 3 sessions of RS Government in technical mandate, a total of 2.519 items of the agenda were discussed, of which 57 were discussed in special and thematic, while the others were discussed in regular sessions, more precisely, 2.462 of them. 

SUMMARY: REPUBLIKA SRPSKA GOVERNMENT

Compared to the previous composition of RS Government, which discussed in the first year of the mandate about 34 points of the agenda on the average, per session held, the RS Government, led by the prime minister Aleksandar Dzombic, does much more work and discusses over 50 items on the agenda per (regular) session (which is even by 40% more). Including the special and thematic sessions, the current RS Government meets 5 times a month on the average, i.e. holds one session more on the average than the previous Government in the first year of its mandate.  It is indicative that the prime minister Dzombic was only 3 times absent in 2011, while his predecessor Milorad Dodik was absent from as many as 25 sessions in 2007.

The difference in attitude to work between this and the previous RS Government is big speaking of its activity in RS NA too. Ministers’ replying in the Parliament sessions have become a regular practice, while in the previous composition of the ministers and parliament members these were rather isolated cases. The ministers are very keen to defend the work of their departments and are interested in their opinions being accepted by the Parliament. 

Transparency is a problem, and the best way to illustrate it is with the fact that in one year of its work the RS Government did not post the adopted Work Program on its website.  Not even to mention the funds on the escrow account from the privatization, this is the information that not even the members of the RS NA could receive.  The RS Government uses a very selective approach in posting the information on its website, and delivers shortened versions of the minutes, only after the expiry of the quarter, which makes the work on monitoring of this institution much more difficult, i.e. prevents the public from getting quality information on the work of the Government.

The Work Program was adopted only on 17 February, whereby the provisions of the RS Government Rules of Procedures were once again violated. The public is deprived of certain information that would make the processes more visible and more democratic and that would remove the doubts concerning some illegitimate actions. 

The practice of insufficient work of the Government on solving the essential problems of RS citizens continued.  Of total number of adopted items of the agenda, in the current Government sessions, only 25% deal to a certain extent with the life problems of common citizens.  The number of measures that can significantly contribute to the quality of citizens’ life is at the level of 4.5% and is within the average of the previous years of the work of the Government.

In this extremely difficult year, the RS Government took a socially insensitive attitude, speaking of the problems of citizens who live on the verge of poverty or below the minimum of their existential needs: the subsidies for electricity for the social categories of the population were abolished, in the last year the average pension was increased by 1 KM, and the minimum pension not even by that, and remained at the level of 160 KM (the pensioners with the lowest pension in FBiH annually get 1.800 KM more than their colleagues in RS), other persons' care and assistance also remained at the level of 41 KM. According to the data of the RS Association of Trade Unions, the consumer basket for December 2011 was by 109 KM more expensive compared to December 2010.  Besides, the RS Government cut the subsidies for employment of the young from 2 million KM to 200.000,00 KM as part of the budget of the Ministry for Family, Youth and Sport.  Subsidies for agriculture were reduced by as much as 20 million KM.   

Of important measures passed by the RS Government, those that are certainly noteworthy are the RS Employment Strategy and the Action Plan for Employment for 2011, which were, however, unacceptably delayed. The Strategy was adopted in April, and the Action Plan, that referred to 2011, was adopted only in July. At the same time, the Strategy was extremely unambitiously set – only summing up what the Employment Bureau and the employment agencies are already doing, which has resulted in a verified increase, rather than a decrease of unemployment in this entity.  

From December 2008 to the end of 2011, the number of the unemployed in the Republic of Srpska increased by 16.691, i.e. by as much as 12.5%. The trend of increase of unemployment continues, with no increase in these items from the elections until the end of 2011.  

The RS Government works a lot, however, it does not seem to be directing its energy or efforts on the concrete solutions, so that, besides countless announcements and promises, there are no foreign investments.

As for the program obligations, as of 31 December 2011, the Government had implemented 86% of the planned at the annual level, which can statistically be viewed as a very good result.

The RS Government fully completed the work on 75% of the laws planned for the implementation in 2011 (69 of 92). 

If we take into account the parliamentary procedure in 2011, of 92 laws planned in the Program of Work of RS Government for 2011, the entire procedure was completed for 56 laws.  

We should add that the average salary in RS in 2011 amounts to only 25% of the salary of a minister, while the average pension is only 10% of a minister's salary. And, that the RS Government, from 2009 keeps the budget viable with the help of IMF funds, and that the IMF tranches will become payable in 2012.

SUMMARY: RS NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

A total of 302 items of the agenda were discussed by the RS NA members in 2011, during the total of 59 days of sessions, i.e. in 11 regular sessions and 5 extraordinary sessions.  The activity of the Assembly members in terms of the number of days spent in sessions is almost at the same level as in 2010, when the MPs spent 60 days in session.

Comparing the mandate of the seventh and the eighth assemblies of RS NA, we come to a conclusion that only 195 items of the agenda were discussed by the RS NA in the first year of the mandate, i.e. in 2007, that is to say, by 107 less compared to the first year of work of the current composition of RS NA.  Certainly, the number of discussed items of the agenda directly corresponds with the number of MPs' working days. Likewise, it is completely clear that the work in the sessions during 2011 could have been more efficient.  

The members of RS NA were significantly more active in the second half 2011, when they had 15 working days more compared to the first half of the year.  The average in the first half of 2011 was significantly improved by the fact that in June the MPs spent 10 working days in session, while during the previous 5 months they had worked only 12 days. If we exclude the period of collective holiday which is, under the Rules of the Procedures of the Assembly, August, and January[11] that is known in the RS to have a lot of days off, the MPs effectively spend 10 months working.  During those 10 months there are 220 working days, which means that only 4 days a month, on the average, are spent by the MPs in the Assembly in sessions, if we count that during 10 months of a more intensive work 58 working days were spent in assembly sessions.  

The Work Program for 2011 was adopted by RS NA only on 23 March 2011, in its 5th regular session, thus continuing the tradition of delays in adoption of annual plans. As many as 3 times in the previous mandate of NA, the Work Program was adopted at the end of or even after the completion of the first quarter. The new Rules of Procedures are even worse in this segment than in the previous which prescribed that the work program for the new year should be adopted by the end of the calendar year. The valid Rules do not prescribe this at all, so that there is practically a possibility for the Work Program of the institutions for 2012 to be adopted in December without violating the Rules of Procedures in any instance.

Of total 181 measures planned for implementation, the RS NA members implemented 111 or 61.3% of the plan, thus achieving a solid result. Looking on the laws alone, 69 planned proposed laws in 2011 or 67% of the plan were adopted by RS NA.

These figures could have been much better had the RS Government sent the prepared materials to the Assembly more promptly. This did not happen due to the slowness of the Government administration that favored the success of its own results at the expense of the results achieved commonly with RS NA.  

However, the responsibility for this is shared, because NA persistently agrees to an inferior position.  It does not require the Government to submit to it reports on its work, it does not set the tasks or guidelines of the Government work, does not direct that work, nor has any control of it, all of which are actually its mandated obligations. On the contrary, an opposite situation happens, so that the Work Program of RS NA is discussed in the RS Government regular session.

Besides the laws from the Work Program for 2011, the RS NA members adopted 13 unplanned laws.

Something that is specific about the work of the NA, which can be commented differently, is that the RS NA members did not turn down a single proposed law during the assembly discussions or votes (only 1 draft law was rejected, proposed by a member from opposition).  Also, the application of the new Rules of Procedures of RS NA was successfully demonstrated by an MP from SDS, Vukota Govedarica, who proved to the petitioner of the Law on Veterinarian Activity, in 12^th regular session, that the Law cannot be discussed as it was not submitted to the procedure in accordance with the Rules of Procedures, i.e. because the legal time period of 6 months for a draft to be turned into a proposal had elapsed. Upon the remark made by the president of RS NA with regard to this, the law was withdrawn.  This was an example of a quality and dedicated action by the opposition.

Speaking of the work of RS National Assembly in the context of solving the burning problems of citizens, something that must be mentioned is that there is a lack of measures that could improve the quality of lives of RS citizens in a long term, and first of all solve the problem of huge unemployment and improve the unfavorable ratio of the number of employed persons on the one hand and the number of unemployed and the pensioners in the Republic of Srpska, on the other hand.

Of the measures adopted during the previous period, we should underline the adoption of the RS Strategy of Employment for the period of the next 4 years, which had previously spent three years in the work programs of both the RS Government and RS NA.  The final result expected from the RS Employment Strategy in the next four years is an increase of employment by 8%.  However, the opposition in RS NA is skeptical about the possible effects of this strategy, due to the lack of finances in the entity’s budget for starting any new projects or employment programs, additional training, workers’ re-qualification, development of SMEs, or the like.

Another fact is noteworthy too: the RS NA members find themselves more and more often in a situation where they should approve the decisions by which the RS, or more precisely, its citizens assume more debt.  Speaking of these measures, the opposition members remind that during the past period, the representatives of the ruling coalition had spent almost all the money from privatization of RS Telekom, without turning to the opposition members, in the Parliament, for their opinion about spending of this money – it is only now that they remember the Assembly when they want to share the responsibility for the loans that had been taken already.  It is not to be forgotten that these are substantial funds, part of which will become due for repayment very shortly, and this will, in one way or another, affect all the RS citizens.   

Total planned budget expenses of RS NA in 2011 were envisaged in the amount of 10.264.772 КМ. The following distribution of the funds allocated to the RS NA, through the budget, was planned:

5.766.000 КМ – for gross salaries and compensation of expenses of the employees and MPs 

380.000 КМ – for gross compensation of expenses and other personal i

As a part of the project Reducing of plastic bags usage in BiH, the CCI organize a photo competition titled "Environment in a bag”. Citizens will be invited to send photos of the environment polluted by plastic bags, via MMS or e-mail. After closing of the competition and gathering of sent photos, the visitors of www.plasticnekese.net will be able to electronically vote for the best photos, which will be rewarded and used in further promotion of the pollution problems caused by plastic bags and damage they cause to the environment.  These activities are implemented with the support of the Delegation of the EU in BiH. 

After successful organization of stands in front of hypermarkets in larger BiH cities, distributing textile bags to citizens who refuse plastic bags at the cashier and sign a petition, the CCI wishes to include the citizens themselves again through the project activities. Photo competition “Environment in a bag” is planned for March and April, and citizens will be invited to send an MMS or an E-mail of a photo showing the pollution of the environment caused by plastic bags.       The key criteria for selecting the best photo will be directed not to technical or artistic quality, but to the strong impression of the environmental pollution. The announcement of winners has been planned for 22 April, the Day of planet Earth.

Within the project “Downsizing the use of plastic bags in BiH”, the CCI implements a number of activities aiming to bring the regulations in both BiH entities dealing with production, trade and import of plastic bags. Another goal is to inform the citizens about the scope of this problem and the possibility of their contribution to lowering the bad effects of plastic bags on the environment. So the campaign is run in two lanes simultaneously – towards the authorities and the citizens.

 When it comes to the first lane, a draft of regulations is being made at the moment, with key provisions of introducing compensations on the principle that a polluter is paying, but also a stimulation for production of bio-degradable bags, quality (thick) plastic bags, and other ways of technology changes to the benefit of environment protection. At the same time CCi will invite a large number of supermarkets to sign a Memorandum of understanding, obliging them to implement their own actions on lowering the use of plastic bags.

The goal of this activity is multi-fold. The main desire is to include the citizens and business sector into the activities that will attract the attention of public to this ecological problem and to change the ecological awareness of citizens, when it comes to the plastic bags. At the same time, it will be a form of getting the support for exerting pressure to the decision-makers to speed-up the process of bringing and implementing the regulations dealing with production, trade and import of plastic bags, in the aim of environment protection.

Center for civic initiatives, as part of Project - Local government for the life quality of citizens - phase 2, funded by the European Union, organized a number of budget focus groups in the targeted municipalities. The key idea of budget focus groups is to gather small groups of citizens, professionally, as experts or in some other way associated with the field of local interest, relevant in the process of funds allocation from the municipal budget and/or distribution of funds from the already planned budget item. The first budget focus group was held in Siroki Brijeg, followed by a Banja Luka, Bijeljina, Mostar, Foca, Tuzla and Pale.

In Siroki Brijeg, on the 6^th of December 2011, organized by the CCI, a focus group on youth issues was held. Mentioned focus group was attended by representatives of informal group – Networks of youth NGOs from Siroki Brijeg. Referring to the Law on youth of FBiH , the Analysis of strategy for youth at the local level from 2008, this focus group found a sufficient argument to convince the local authorities that within the municipal budget it is necessary to provide a budget line that will be used only for projects and activities of youth organizations, at start with the amount of 15,000 KM. Also, solution for the issue of the space for youth organizations and gatherings of youth was initiated.

Similarly, a focus group was held in Banja Luka, composed of representatives of several youth organizations, movements and informal groups, used the period of public debate on the draft budget and pointed out the lack of funds for youth in the city budget. By submitting extensive written initiative to the city administration, this group has elaborated the current trends in budget allocations for youth in Banja Luka, providing also and comparisons with cities of similar size in B&H and the region and results of the work of youth organizations in Banja Luka and their positive impact on social life were mentioned. City administration and the competent authorities, after reviewing the initiative and the Analysis, submitted in late December 2011 the positive response, and indicated that funds intended for the youth would be increased by 40,000 KM in the draft budget for 2012.

In Bijeljina municipality budget, for several years, assets of 70,000 KM have been planned for the budget line - Projects for support and preservation of growth of the family. However, there are no rule books or programs for allocation and distribution of these funds, but they have been spent - ad hoc in the form of co-financing with the earlier RS government programs that were completed in 2011. Budget focus group that involved people from public institutions, academia and NGO sector,  discussed the need to keep this budget item in the following years, and forwarded the initiative to Bijeljina municipality to keep the current level of planned funds, but to adopt specific programs and regulations for their spending and elaborated possible directions for future work, such as: assistance to young married couples for artificial insemination, help in the treatment of infertility, subsidizing the costs of communal services for large families, and adoption of other measures to help the development and preservation of families. The conclusion of the focus group was that it would be necessary to start a local public campaign for the adoption of local policies for family preservation and development.

Representatives of the Centre for social work of the City of Mostar, Social services and housing, health and Displaced persons and refugees of the City of Mostar,  Red cross Mostar and HO "Altruist" on the budget focus group held on the 20^th of January 2012 with the aim of making comments and suggestions on draft Budget of the City of Mostar for 2012, and trying to find better solution for the functioning of Public and Community kitchen in Mostar, uniquely said that the unification of these kitchens is the only logical and correct way, if in the forefront are the interests of users, whose number, unfortunately, grows daily.

Center for social Work of the City of Mostar in records currently has 449 users entitled to use Public and Community kitchen, of which in the Public Kitchen 328 users, while the Community kitchen has 121 users. Due to extremely bad social situation in the country in the last few years there has been an increase in the number of users, but also rising of prices of basic groceries, fuel, etc.., while the allocation for this purpose stayed the same from year to year, regardless of the expected increase in the number of users in the future. On the other hand, the resources currently allocated from the city budget for the Public and the Community kitchen would be sufficient if they are rationally spent, and when these two are merged into one kitchen.

The focus group sent a request to the authorities in the city administration to insert this initiative as soon as possible in the procedure, and from councilors of the City Council required was to show responsibility and a sympathy for those who are in the most difficult social situation in the city of Mostar, and that this problem is resolved in the shortest possible time. Particularly emphasized was that as long as these kitchens were not merged, budget funds from the City of Mostar, which are meant for food for Public kitchens, City administration distributes according to the number of the users.

The story on deprivation of citizens’ (parents’ and teachers’) rights to elect school principals of the schools in the Tuzla Canton has received unhappy ending. Since 2004, Tuzla Canton was the only one positive example in BiH, in which direct democracy has been applied - the parents and school teachers were able to directly elect primary school principals, based on their knowledge and skills, rather than according to their party affiliation. The goal of this method of election of school principals has been to remove influence of politics from the schools and to terminate the practice by the way of which schools are treated as part of the “electoral pray”, which is divided between ruling  parties and which serves for  rewarding of those who are eligible and obedient. Unfortunately, the current government of this canton has abolished citizens from this right. The disposition  of managerial armchairs between the ruling parties and rewarding of those who are eligible and obedient is again in effect since the end of 2011.  Democratic right of over 100,000 citizens of this canton is roughly violated.

Over the course of 2004, based on CCI’ initiative, Assembly of the Tuzla Canton  adopted amendments and changes to the Law on Primary Education and thereby enabled for parents and school staff to directly elect school principals. In this way, the candidates for these positions have been elected on the basis of their knowledge, personal qualities and abilities. Over the course of 2004 this has been a shining example of democratic practice in BiH. Several years later, the same practice has been adopted also in Bosnia-Podrinje Canton.

However, since 2004 to date, different governments of Tuzla Canton  and different  ministers of education have tried 3 times to change the law and abolish democratic practice. The aim of such attempts was very straightforward – nullifying all achieved results pertaining to de-politicization of education and restoration of party’s control over the disposition of managerial chairs in order to reward those who are obedient and appropriate, therefore causing a serious harm to pupils and general public.

Representatives of municipal assembly of Tuzla Canton, those from the position as well as from opposition, on three occasions succeeded to preserve this democratic achievement. However, after  they succeeded to resist the attacks from, of that time minister of education (from the Party of democratic action- SDA), after the government of Tuzla Canton has been changed  and after the new minister of education has been elected from the Social democratic party- SDP (the party that promised to  citizens that they will strive this model to be applied in all schools all over the country), citizens  expected this process to be improved.  However, it's proved  that SDP’s representatives had such attitudes only when they were in opposition.

Once when they become ruling party, their attitudes are drastically changed. Instead to continue to further evolve the model of de-politicization of education and to improve and spread it to other areas of life, to reduce the influence of parties and politics in all areas of life that are supposed to operate solely on the basis of expertise and social interest, such moves have created a nondemocratic social framework in which parties will control all areas of life. Today in BiH, unfortunately, if you wish to get the job you must be a member of some party, preferably of the ruling party, which will reward your loyalty and obedience by providing you employment.

Public opinion research has been conducted after the last attempt by the government to change the provisions of the Law on Primary Education, pertaining to the methods of election of school principals. Findings showed that 65% of citizens are opposed to change these provisions. This is just one piece in the mosaic of the current social situation in BiH and public attitudes pertaining to the party influence on many segments of life. BiH is mature for a wider debate on these issues.

Centers for Civic Initiatives (CCI) will continue to support solutions that will lead to strengthening of the role of citizens and will continue to fight against the reduction and violation of citizens’ rights by all legitimate means, primarily by conducting different intensive campaigns.

CCI has launched the implementation of the new project "New local community for new local government in BiH in partnership with NGO DON from Prijedor, which is funded by the Delegation of the European Commission to BiH. The project includes many activities that will contribute to increasing citizen participation in decision making. In BiH there are numerous mechanisms through which citizens participate in decision making; however, they should be made for effective in order to address citizens' interests. A reformed Local Community should become a tool which citizens will use to actively collaborate with local administration and the place where citizens will launch thier own initiatives.

Through this project CCI and its partner DON intend to achieve the following:

The legal framework defining the position and role of the local ward will change based on the juridical form of the proposal for change of the Law on Local Self-Government in both entities. The project will submit an initiative to the ministries and parliaments and conduct an advocacy campaign.

This expected result will provide an answer to the questions asked by citizens, civil society and analysts regarding the insufficient government engagement in making the mechanisms for citizen participation (primarily Local Community) more effective in terms of fulfilling citizens' interests. This will eliminate the need for having to act reactively (citizens and government) and create room for further cooperation in the segment of citizen participation in decision making.

Additionally, the government in BiH will make a step forward in harmonizing its legislative framework with the EU Charter of Local Self-Government  (which is obligatory for BiH), which defines the subsidiary principle i.e. that the government levels that are closest to the citizens should render public services.  Also, there will be a step forward toward decentralization of government in BiH, which is also one of the main principles of modern and EU-required principles.

The accomplishment of these goals will also open space for purposeful functioning of LC, as a mechanism for citizen participation in the target municipalities. This will reduce the problems in the work of LC, which is the main reason why citizens have complained to thier mayors over the course of many years and one of the main obstacles in communication with citizens.

Besides, an improved legal framework at a higher level will make it obligatory for municipalities to harmonize thier legislations with higher legislation, which will improve the legal status of Local Community as the main mechanisms for citizen participation in decision making.  The local administrations' obligation to harmonize thier statutes and other documents (rules of procedure, LC statute, etc) will help them reach political consensus regarding the harmonization of legislative acts, because this will significantly reduce space for political manipulations.  

Finally, this progress will enable mayors to overcome one of the main problems in thier relationship with citizens and focus on communication with citizens in order to find solutions to local problems, which, in fact, is thier primary task.

The media will have an important topic to report to the public, which will be in focus during the project's implementation. Not only will they be able to report on current events but they will also have more space to monitor the implementation and assess the overall government effectiveness in implementing thier responsibilities - which are significant topics for the BiH public.

NGOs working with CCI will have the opportunity to confirm the beneficial side of thier work and improve thier public image as a public advocate. This is rather important both in a sense of general public support for the NGO activities and for the organizational sustainability - especially in terms of financing.

Additionally, NGOs will have the opportunity to cooperate directly with decision makers at the local and higher levels, which is also an additional capacity for thier future projects. This will bring advantages to NGOs in terms of building thier advocacy capacities in order to improve communication between citizens and government.

Reformed role of LC will provide citizens with more opportunities to influence decision making at the local level - especially in the segment of budgeting and development of thier communities. LC will become a real tool in the hands of citizens, not only a formal process, which has been to date primarily due to leadership and competences of LCs within municipalities.

This will give citizens an opportunity to influence the situation in thier communities by using civic initiatives to take over the responsibility and actively cooperate with local government, but this time, on a realistic basis.

After the changes of the legislation at higher levels, local governments have 12 months to harmonize thier acts with the new laws. CCI will support this process through initiating regional presentations of the newly adopted legislations for groups of municipalities and developing an example of the harmonized statute that could serve as an example for other municipalities in this process. In the process of harmonizing municipal statutes, local governemnt representatives can count on CCI's assistance with know-how transfer in order to complete this process.

Permanent informing of the public about all of the aspects of the project activities aims to increase public pressure on decision makers in both entities in order to ensure necessary dynamics of the policy dialogue and the adoption of the expected changes of the legislative framework. The process of informing citizens will include both dissemination of information as well as collecting feedback from citizens, which then will be channeled through to decision makers and used as input in early stages of the project activities. This is why CCI will create a two way communication with citizens, primarily through the upcoming project's web site and direct communication, mail communication and direct street contacts.

This way, citizens will not be passive observers but they will have the opportunity to contribute to improving policies and to take over the role of a partner in decision making, which is an important long-term result of the project.

A minimum of 10000 citizens are expected to be engaged directly in the project activities (petitions, comments, public presentations and discussions, Facebook, etc) and additional 500 000 citizens will be informed via media about the main project aspects.

In the first year of the project implementation in the municipalities of Srebrenica, Bratunac, Vlasenica and Milići, in which CCI has been implementing the component ‘Participation of Citizens in the Decision-Making Processes’ within the project "Reconciliation and Development of Communities / Participatory Democratic Development in 4 Municipalities of Birač Region 2011 – 2013", good results have been achieved in both ‘old’ and ‘new’ municipalities that has been involved since January 2011. CCI’ partners on this project are CARITAS and the Women’s Association ‘Nature’, and it has being funded with the support of the Government of Switzerland (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, SDC) and the Government of Liechtenstein. In addition to the municipalities of Srebrenica and Bratunac, the project also includes the municipalities of Vlasenica and Milići. 

The ’new’ municipalities of Vlasenica and Milići adopted three proposed additional mechanisms of citizens’ participation, with support of CCI and the Working Development Groups composed of representatives of the Municipal Administration and local communities. By February of this year the municipality of Milići began implementation of one of newly adopted decisions.

Within the segment of the project work with the Team for Project Development and Application, through establishment, training and building of capacities with support from CCI, by February of this year a project idea has been finalized, which will be submitted to a potential donor. For the municipalities of Milići, Vlasenica and Bratunac the project idea refers to free internet for the city area, and in Srebrenica the project idea refers to the Knowledge Centre – learning of foreign languages.

According to the plan of media presentation, CCI prepared and organised a radio show at the Magic Radio Milići in December, in which the activities and the results achieved in this phase of the project were presented, with emphasis on the budgeting process in the municipalities of Srebrenica and Bratunac and adoption of new mechanisms of citizens' participation in the municipalities of Vlasenica and Milići. In the same month, again with the aim to inform citizens in the targeted municipalities and the public, CCI printed and distributed the Information Brochures on newly adopted decisions in the municipalities of Vlasenica and Milići.

CCI activities in implementation of a Strategy for fighting corruption 2009 - 2014 in health and education systems. Activities in the health sector are directed towards bringing and applying the Rules on Procedure for prevention and fight against corruption in the form of a systemic act, which would represent a necessary precondition to fight the corruption in health institutions, while their adoption is mandatory according to the said Strategy.  In 2011, a total of 27 health institutions countrywide adopted the mentioned Rules on Procedure.  In the education sector, we tried to incorporate the topics from the fields of ethics and fight against corruption into the teaching plans and programs all around BiH.  These activities have been supported by the USAID. 

With regard to the campaign in education, we would particularly stress CCI activities in Sarajevo Canton and Bosnia-Podrinje canton. In cooperation with the Ministry of Education of Canton Sarajevo, CCI together with partner organization Transparency International, held a series of education seminars on 29 Nov 2011 on topics of Ethics and fight against corruption for representatives (teachers) of social (humanities) subjects from 113 Sarajevo primary and secondary schools. On 9 Dec. 2011, the International Day of fight against corruption, lectures were held in Sarajevo primary and secondary schools in the domain of Ethics and fight against corruption.  Systemic processes of inclusion of these topics into he plans and programs of education institutions have also started. Starting with the next term, i.e. February 2012, it is planned to have regular lectures within classes of Democracy and Human Rights (secondary schools) and class community classes (primary schools).

On the basis of the cooperation with the Ministry of education, science, culture and sports of the BP Canton and Cantonal Institute of Pedagogy, there was a large scale education of educational workers of BP Canton to the topics of ethics and fight against corruption, held on 23 Jan 2012.  At that occasion, a training in these topics was organized for all the teachers who teach social subjects in primary and secondary schools in BP Canton. Starting with the second term of the school year 2011-2012, the teachers are obliged to hold educative classes for students to the topic of ethics and fight against corruption, while from next school year onwards the said topics are planned to be incorporated into the existing social science subjects. All attending teachers received appropriate materials for ethics and fight against corruption (in hard copy and in electronic form), with proposed contents and methods that should help them in educating the students in the upcoming period.

With regard to the health sector, CCI directed its activities in the past few months to systemic resolving of the issue of drafting and implementing the Rules on procedure for prevention and fight against corruption, which understood more concrete cooperation with appropriate ministries. After our contacts with entity and cantonal ministries and other representatives of health sector, we have established a partnership cooperation. At our initiative, every health care institution in BiH has been informed by the competent ministry of the obligation to adopt the Rules on procedure for prevention and fight against corruption. Those health care institutions who adopted their Rules in the previous period were instructed to implement them and to periodically inform the ministry and general public (via Web pages, media, notice board and similar) about the effects and possible violations to the Rules.

At the CCI initiative, the following health care institutions in BiH have adopted the Rules on procedure for prevention and fight against corruption thus far:

1.       General hospital „Prim. Abdulah Nakaš“ Sarajevo

2.      University Clinic Centre Tuzla

3.      University clinic hospital Mostar

4.      Clinic Centre Banja Luka

5.      Cantonal hospital Zenica

6.      Cantonal hospital Gorazde

7.      Cantonal hospital Travnik

8.      Cantonal hospital „Dr fra Mihovil Sučić“ Livno

9.      Cantonal hospital Orasje

10.  General hospital „Sveti apostol Luka“ Doboj

11.  General hospital „Sveti vračevi“ Bijeljina

12.  General hospital of Brcko district

13.  General hospital Konjic

14.  Health station Kljuc

15.  Health station Tuzla

16.  Health station Srbac

17.  Health station Srebrenica

18.  Health station Visoko

19.  Health station Zavidovici

20.  Health station Kotor Varos

21.  Health station „Sveti Sava“ Teslić

22.  Health station Banja Luka

23.  Health station Zenica

24.  Health station Derventa

25.  Health station Zvornik

26.  Health station Modrica

27.  Psychiatric hospital of Canton Sarajevo (Jagomir)

Analysis of the electoral legislation in BiH. In cooperation with the Council of Europe, in the second half of 2011, CCI conducted a series of activities aiming to contribute to improvement of the electoral legislation in BiH. The result of these activities, among other things, is the comprehensive analysis of the electoral system in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which provided two specific products. The first one is a package of proposals for amendments to the BiH Election Law, which CCI has submitted to the competent parliamentary body. These proposals imply introduction of the instrument of early elections, electronic voting, tightening of penal provisions, changing the way of election of electoral committees, etc. The second product is the book 'The Electoral System in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Critical Analysis and Compilation of the Electoral Legislation' which, as a unique book in this area, gives an overview of the basic characteristics of the electoral and party system in BiH, provides a critical review of the entire Election Law, and contains compilation of all constitutional and legal acts, 22 of them, which make the electoral system in BiH. Public promotion of the book is expected in the March.