Semi-annual report on monitoring the work of legislative and executive authorities in BiH has been published by the Centres for Civic Initiatives. Unfortunately, the disintegration of the authorities in FBiH and repeated stagnating are the key features of the observed period. In addition to the report on work of FBiH Government and Parliament, we present here the key analyses of the work o of the government bodies at the level of BiH. Regrettably, bad practice and low performance are still the main characteristics of the work of the bodies monitored by CCI as part of the CAPP II project, financially supported by USAID. The summary reports of the work of the state parliament and Parliament of FBiH and the governments at these ' levels follow below More...

BiH ASSEMBLY I-VI 2012.

PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY VIOLATES THE RULES THAT REGULATE ITS WORK AND RESORTS TO AN „AD-HOC“ PRINCIPLE WHEN SOLVING THE PROBLEMS. Throughout the last year, 2011, and during the first half-year of 2012 BH PA worked (and is still working), without the approved orientation work plans in either of PA Houses, with the Budget of BH institutions and international obligations of BiH for 2011 approved „retroactively“, i.e. at the beginning of 2012 for 2011, and the Budget for 2012 approved with a significant delay – on 31 May 2012. Due to this, BH Council of Ministers had to issue two decisions on temporary (quarterly) financing of BH state institutions in 2012.

THE TREND OF WORKING A LITTLE AND SPENDING A LOT CONTINUES. During the period 01 January – 30 June 2012, the representatives of BH PA held 13 plenary sessions, spending in total 77,5 hours in them, i.e. one and a half eight-hour working days a month, on the average. During the same time period, the representatives of the House of Peoples of BH PA held 8 plenary sessions, spending in them a total of 13(!) hours – in a half a year.
Despite that, their salaries are still extremely high (between 4.800 and 7.000 KM) and in total disparity with the results, showing total lack of social sensitivity and awareness that politicians' salaries must be brought within acceptable frameworks compared to the average salaries in the country. 
A 4,5 decrease of salaries of BH PA representatives and delegates in the first half-year 2012, that was hardly agreed and approved, is a totally inadequate answer. The cut must be radical, as was radical an increase that happened a while ago. And four years ago, when they increased their own salaries, the percentage was not 4.5%, but 108(!).

AN ENORMOUS NUMBER OF LAWS IS STILL VOTED DOWN BY THE STATE PARLIAMENTS. While in the parliaments of the countries usually referred to as normal (especially those that have the same sort of majority in executive and legislative power), the number of laws voted down compared to the number of approved laws (e.g. in the Republic of Croatia Parliament, 101 laws were approved and only 5 voted down), in BiH there are so many laws that are voted down, and so few that are approved, that at times the former outnumber the latter. In the last year, i.e. 2011, only 12 laws were approved by BH PA, while as many as 15 were voted down. In the first quarter 2012 too, there were more laws voted down than approved. That ratio improved a little in the second quarter (however, still, one third of all debated laws were voted down), so that BH PA ended the first 6 months of its work with 15 approved and 11 rejected laws. 

COMPARISON WITH THE NEIGHBOURS ILLUSTRATES THE BEST DESASTROUS RESULTS OF BH AUTHORITIES.  During the period 01 January-30 June 2012, the representatives of the Croatian Sabor, spent effectively about 330 hours working, in 58 days that they spent in session (which is 4 times more compared to the representatives of BH PA HR, and 25 times more compared to BH PA HP). In addition, they approved 101 laws, which is almost 7 times more compared to the number of the laws approved by BH PA in the same time period. 
During the same time period, from 01 January to 30 June 2012, the Montenegrin Assembly effectively spent about 140 hours in session, in 42 days, during which time they approved 56 laws, which is 4 times more than the number of laws approved by BH PA. 
Due to the parliamentary elections that took place in the first half 2012, during that time the Republic of Serbia National Assembly held only two sessions in 4 days (both sessions were held in the first two months 2012), in which they approved 27 laws. Therefore, the same number of laws was approved by the Republic of Serbia National Assembly during 2 months of its work, at the beginning of 2012, and by BH PA over the past year and a half.  
All the above shows perfectly clear the reasons for our country's lagging behind our neighbors in terms of EU integrations.
We should also add that the salaries of our MPs and the delegates are higher compared to the salaries of their colleagues in the neighborhood, who have, in contrast, accomplished far better results.

THE CURRENT BH PA IS TWICE AS WORSE COMPARED TO THE PREVIOUS PA, AND ALMOST 3 TIMES WORSE THAN THE PENULTIMATE ONE. The previous BH PA (term of office 2006-2010) and the one before that (2002-2008), were much more efficient in the field of legislative activities. Namely, in the period from 01 January to 30 June 2008, (which was the second post-election year), 30 laws were approved by BH PA, and this is twice as many as approved by the current BH PA. And comparing the current efficiency of BH PA work with the penultimate PA (2002-2006), it is evident that in the first 6 months of 2004 43 laws were passed, which is almost 3 times more than the number of laws passed by the current BH PA during the period 01 January – 30 June 2012.

OFFICE FOR AUDIT OF BH INSTITUTIONS NOTICES AGAIN SERIOUS DEFICIENCIES IN THE WORK OF BH PA, ESPECIALLY WITH REGARDS TO THE DISPOSAL OF FINANCIAL ASSETS. BH Parliamentary Assembly received „a qualified opinion“ from the Audit Office for the year 2011, as it is evident that certain recommendations are not being implemented and that certain deficiencies in the work of BH PA are not being removed. As a basis for such an assessment, the auditors stated that it was not possible to confirm that the funds were used purposefully or that the payments for fulfillment of MPs’ and the delegates’ duties, or allocations made for petty cash, were justified during the time when there were no activities in either House. In the same way, the expenses made by the clubs were not supported by adequate documentation, which would allow to determine their purpose or justification for their occurrence.

DISCRIMINATION IN BH PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY CONTINUES. Two years and 8 months since passing of the verdict of the European Court for Human Rights, which determined that BiH was in the process of mass discrimination of its citizens, deriving from constitutional solutions of its Presidency and the House of Peoples, the discrimination is still present. The House of Peoples still functions in an unchanged form. Much to the shame and detriment of the citizens of this country.  
Continuation of the discrimination, besides being unacceptable as it defines us as an inhumane and non-civilized society, that tolerates lack of rights of some of its citizens, has practical consequences too. Refusal of the politicians to solve this problem, slows us down on the road to Euro Atlantic integrations. 
On 31 August another deadline expires, set to us by the EU, which we shall, as it seems now, fail to meet. According to the „Road Map for Application of BH for Membership in EU“, given to our politicians in the last meeting in Brussels, a proposed amendment to the BiH Constitution, that would bring it in line with the court decision in Sejdic-Finci case, being a pre-condition for coming into force of the Stabilization and Association Agreement and for submission of application of EU membership, should be submitted to the parliamentary procedure by 31 August. 

BiH COUNCIL OF MINISTERS I-VI 2012.

BOTH SOLVING THE CITIZENS' MOST IMPORTANT PROBLEMS, AND THE ROAD OF EUROATLANTIC INTEGRATIONS WERE MOVED DOWN THE LIST OF THE PRIORITIES IN THE FIRST HALF 2012. Only 1.3% of the total number of the measures realized in the Council of Ministers sessions can really play a major role in solving the citizens' most important problems (unemployment, social and pension policy, corruption etc.).  Not even after the end of the first half of 2012 some of the most important measures for Euro-Atlantic Road of BiH have not been realized. We have already mentioned non-implementation of the decision of the European Court for Human Rights. We will state some other measures from the Action Plan for addressing the road map, whose implementation is the responsibility of the Council of Ministers or another institution working at it, which have not been carried out:

• The Strategy of social inclusion of BiH;
• The establishing of the appellate system in BiH;
• Passing the Law on Witness Protection Program in BiH;
• Approving the bill of the new Law on Public Procurements;
• Approval of the Strategy for Development of Quality Infrastructure System;
• Passing of the Comprehensive Strategy of Rural Development that would cover the whole of BiH;
• Adjustment of BiH Customs Law with EU Customs Code;
• Enacting of the state law on promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurship;
• Approval of the overall Energy Strategy for the whole country (including promotion of energy efficiency and of renewable energy sources);
• Establishing BiH Agency for Protection of the Environment;
• Ensuring supreme BiH audit institution;
• Strengthening the measures for promotion of the operative capacity and guaranteeing financial independence of the unit for financial investigations aimed at fighting corruption.

THE RESULTS THAT WERE ACCOMPLISHED ARE THE WORST IN THE LAST 6 YEARS. The work of BiH Council of Ministers has been in constant decline since 2009. In the past 6 years, 2012 was the year with the fewest sessions of the Council of Ministers held in the first half year. At the same time, in the first half of 2007 alone, the Council of Ministers carried out less measures compared to 2012, however, 5 more bills were approved. Compared to the first half 2009, in this year even 34 measures less were approved by the Council of Ministers, which represents a decrease of efficiency by about 25%.
If we look at the “monthly law implementation rate” and compare the activity of the current and previous two BiH Councils of Ministers in post-election years, we see that the result in 2012 is by far the worst. The Council of Ministers that worked in 2004, both in February and in May of that year approved more bills than it was done by the current Council of Ministers during a half of 2012. The Council of Ministers presided by Mr. Adnan Terzic approved a total of 56 laws in the first half 2004, which is almost 5 times more than what was accomplished by the Council of Ministers presided by Mr. Bevanda since February 10. 

NOT EVEN ONE THIRD OF THE PLAN FOR THIS YEAR HAS BEEN ADOPTED IN THE FIRST HALF YEAR. Comparing the level of what was planned and what was accomplished during the first half of 2012, we come to a conclusion that 386 measures should have been passed and/or published in BH Official Gazette in 6 months, while the accomplished result shows 231 measures. This represents a 60% realization of the Program for the first half of 2012, which, at the same time represents 31% of the planned for the whole year. As many as 150 measures that should have been implemented in the first 6 months failed to be implemented!

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS STILL UNSURPASSED – WORKING WITHOUT THE WORK PROGRAM. Speaking of the degree of realization of semi-annual activities by the ministries within the BH Council of Ministers, i.e. those activities that were planned for the realization in the first half 2012, we can see that none of them fully implemented its semi-annual work program. Generally speaking, most ministries had even results, ranging in terms of the efficiency from 55 to 70% of what has been accomplished. Only the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees, headed by minister Damir Ljubic (HDZ 1990) did not realize over 50% of the semi-annual work plan for 2012. Certainly, a ministry that deserves special criticism is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the minister Zlatko Lagumdzija (SDP BiH), for which we cannot even speak about working in accordance with the plan, as the annual plan of this institution is not known in public. Namely, this is still the only ministry the activities plan of which is missing from the Work Program of Council of Ministers for 2012.
Speaking in percentages, Justice Ministry headed by minister Barisa Colak (HDZ BiH) as well as the Defense Ministry headed by minister Muhamed Ibrahimovic (SDA), with accomplished 70% of the plan are the most efficient in terms of the implementation of semi-annual work plan. 
From the point of view of all the institutions the activities of which are part of this year's Work Program of BiH Council of Ministers, the Directorate for European Integrations is the most efficient in the realization of what was planned for the first half 2012, with 23 activities that were planned for the first half year that were realized. The plan of the Directorate for 2012 comprises a total of 49 measures, so we can single out this institution as a positive example of good planning and keeping a focus on the plan realization – having in mind that after the end of June it accomplished 85% of the semi-annual plan, i.e. 47% of the annual plan.

THE NUMBER OF APPROVED BILLS IN THE FIRST HALF 2012 IS SUCH THAT IN THIS REGARD IT IS COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT FOR BIH CITIZENS WHETHER THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS WORKS IN TECHNICAL OR REGULAR MANDATE. In the first half 2011 BiH was blocked because of incompetence of local politicians to form the government, while the Council of Ministers in technical mandate, following 4 years of extremely unproductive work, ended the first 180 days of 2011 with only 12 approved bills. Finally, when the new BH Council of Ministers was confirmed in February 2012, it was set on the foundations of huge backlogs especially from 2011. The result concerning the number of approved bills in the first half of the year was the same as if the BH CM were still in the technical mandate – 12 approved bills.  
During the first half of 2012, BH Council of Ministers did not approve a single bill at the proposal of the Ministry of Transport and Communications or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to the plan for the first half year, the Ministry of Transport and Communications was supposed to prepare, and the Council of Ministers approve „The Law on Obligations in Civil Aviation” and the „Law on BiH Public Roads”. The same Ministry planned to implement as many as 8 laws by the end of the year. The legislative plan of work of MFA does not even exist, and it seems that only a few privileged persons know at which stage is the preparation of the famous new „BiH Law on Foreign Affairs”.

ANY COMPARISON WITH THE NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES IS DEEPLY DEPRESSING. In the first half 2012, BiH Council of Ministers held 13 sessions; during the same period of 2012 the Government of Montenegro held twice as many sessions, the Government of the Republic of Croatia three times more, and of Serbia even 6 times more compared to their BH counterparts. During 6 months of 2012, BiH Council of Ministers approved 12 different bills. During the same time, the Government of the neighboring Serbia approved 2.5 times more bills, of Montenegro 3 times more bills and of Croatia over 7 times more bills. 

 FBiH GOVERNMENT I-VI 2012

IN THE FIRST HALF 2012 BiH FEDERATION GOVERNMENT MADE A SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS COMPARED TO THE PREVIOUS GOVERNMENTS. In comparison with the first half of the second mandate year of the previous two Federal Governments, the current Government held more sessions and accomplished better results. Namely even 432 measures more were realized compared to the Government of 2004, and 417 measures more compared to the Government of 2008. Speaking in percentages, this is by 35% better performance of the incumbent Government compared to its predecessors. 

THE WORK PROGRAM WAS FINALLY APPROVED ON TIME. CCI have been warning BiH government institutions for many years already that good results cannot be accomplished without a well designed work program (and the Budget aligned with it). The relatively good results accomplished by the Federal Government in the first 6 months 2012 have a lot to do with the fact that BH Federation Government, along with the Tuzla Canton Assembly, was the only one to approve its work program for 2012 on time, that is to say, before the beginning of the year. Furthermore, it is interesting that while the Government of the other entity, the RS, drastically decreases the volume of planned activities, the Federal Government has increased the level of its activities.

REALIZATION OF THE PLANNED OBLIGATIONS IN THE FIRST HALF 2012 IS QUITE HIGH.  The incumbent BiH Federation Government, during the first half year, implemented 40% of the annual work program. Had it continued working at this pace, it would have been the best result in this regard in the last 6 years. Moreover, it is also indicative that the best performance in terms of the planned activities was also recorded by the incumbent Government, during the last year – 69%. 

THE MINISTRIES POSITIVELY RESPONDED TO CRITICISM, CONSIDERABLY IMPROVING THEIR PERFORMANCE WHEN IT COMES TO THE REALIZATION OF PLANNED OBLIGATIONS.  Looking at the realization of the annual Work Program by the ministries, in contrast to the previous year, when, at the end of June there were even 9 ministries that did not realize even 20% of the annual plan (the worst performance by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy – only 7%), in 2012, i.e. on 30 June, there are no such ministries. The worst performance by now in this regard has been shown by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (Branka Đurić-Žilić, SDP - 20%), Ministry of Culture and Sport (Salmir Kaplan, SDA - 25%) and the Ministry of Energy, Mining and Industry (Erdal Trhulj, SDA - 29%). In nominal terms, the Finance Ministry (Ante Krajina, HSP) and the Ministry of Energy, Mining and Industry (Erdal Trhulj, SDA) have the best record in terms of accomplished activities. These two Ministries lead by example both by the volume and complexity of the plans set for 2012, i.e. the plans that abound in important laws and regulations.    

IN THE FIRST 6 MONTHS 2012, FBiH GOVERNMENT APPROVED 32% MORE BILLS COMPARED TO THE RS GOVERNMENT.  In addition to 35 planned laws, in the first half of this year the Federal Government approved 15 bills outside the plan, which leads us to the sum of total 50 approved bills in 6 months. During the same time period, only 38 bills were approved by the RS Government – 27 that were planned in its Work Program, and 11 that were not planned.

BIH FEDERATION PARLIAMENT DOES NOT KEEP PACE WITH THE WORK OF THE GOVERNMENT. Of 50 bills approved by BH Federation Government in the period 01 January – 30 June 2012, 29 were submitted to the parliamentary procedure in the form of a proposal. By the end of June, only 4 were approved.  This clearly shows the existence of a bottleneck in the process of making laws. Something that is additionally discouraging is that none of the approved laws are fundamental, but every single one of them is just amendments to the existing legal enactments. 

POLITICAL INSTABILITY THREATENS TO HINDER THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT MEASURES. Of total number of the measures realized in the first 6 months of 2012, 294 have to do with crucial problems of the citizens (unemployment, healthcare, social and pension policies, corruption, the problems of the young, etc.), and 34 of them particularly stand out in terms of their importance for the mentioned priority problems. In most cases they include the laws and the strategies, while their implementation largely depends on financial and political stability of both BiH Federation and BiH, as well as on coordinated work of the cantons at the federal level. For most such laws the parliamentary process is still not over, with the implementation of the approved strategy depending exactly on the rate of approving new laws and regulations in target areas. However, the current problems on the political scene and huge budgetary deficits have in a certain way brought everything into question. 

LACK OF THE DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS AND SERIOUS SAVING MEASURES ARE THE KEY OBJECTIONS ADDRESSED TO FBIH GOVERNMENT. Something that is worrying about the current Budget is the fact that the planned expenses are by 11% higher than the last year's expenses. The plan is for a 350 million KM high deficit to be covered by further indebtedness, which, considering the practice of irresponsible disposal of public funds and a neglect for investments in development, slowly leads the country toward the debt bondage. The development projects in the Budget for the year 2012 have been completely pushed down the list of priorities. At the same time, a considerable part of the Budget will be spent for employees' salaries. The planned allocations for salaries within the administrative apparatus not only have not been decreased in 2012, but were increased by almost 3 million KM. 

 
 FBiH PARLIAMENT I-VI 2012

DRASTIC DROP OF EFFICIENCY IN THE SECOND QUARTER MADE FBiH PARLIAMENT AGAIN ONE OF THE LEAST EFFICIENT GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS.  In the second quarter 2012, BiH Federation Parliament recorded a drastic fall of efficiency, having approved 3 and a half times less laws compared to the first quarter 2012. In the second quarter, only 4 laws were approved, which means that in the first six months of 2012 only 18 laws were approved. 

IN 2012 FBiH PARLIAMENT CONTINUES WITH THE PRACTICE OF DELAYS IN APPROVAL OF THE KEY DOCUMENTS.  Rather than on 31 December 2011, which is a legal deadline, the budget was approved in January 2012. The Rules of Procedure were violated in 2012 by both Houses, which approved the programs of their work in March (House of Peoples), i.e. in April (House of Representatives) instead by the end of 2011. Nevertheless, the situation is better compared to the last year, when the Budget was approved only at the end of March, and when the House of Peoples worked through the year without the approved work program, while the program of the House of Representatives for that year was approved only at the end of July.

DESASTROUS DEGREE OF REALIZATION OF PLANNED OBLIGATIONS MAKES THE VERY EXISTENCE OF THE WORK PROGRAM POINTLESS. Of 18 laws passed in FBiH Parliament, only 2 had been planned in the Work Program. Which brings us back to an old story about the utter lack of any serious approach to creating the work program. Namely, what is the point of the existence of an approved Work Program, with 97 laws planned for realization, when only 2 are approved and as many as 8 times more were approved without being part of the plan in the first place? And what kind of planning experts are those who overlook such an enormous quantity of laws? In similar situations it is obvious that some institutions see the development of the work programs as mere fulfillment of obligations, rather than a key tool for raising their performance and setting strategic guidelines for action.

PERFORMANCE OF FBIH PARLIAMENT AGAIN WORSE COMPARED TO RS NA. Besides the fact that in the first quarter FBiH Parliament approved even two and a half times more laws than those approved by the RS NA (14 vs. 6), which was the first time that it had better results than the other entity's parliament, at the end of the half-year, due to the drastic fall of the efficiency of the Federal Parliament, the situation is quite different. Thus, in the second quarter RS NA approved 3 times more laws compared to the Federal Parliament (13 as opposed to 4). The difference is particularly evident when it comes to the implementation of the planned laws, of which 8 and a half times more were approved by RS NA compared to FBiH Parliament (17 vs. 2).

LOW PERFORMANCE AND MODEST RESULTS OF FEDERAL PARLIAMENT MEMBERS COST THE TAX PAYERS A LOT. During 6 months in 2012 the House of Peoples spent only 37 hours in session, that is to say, only a little more than 6 hours a month on the average. Regardless of that, all four regular meetings of the House that were held were adjourned, 2 for the lack of quorum, 1 due to „loss of concentration“ of the delegates. Having said that, in a House that lacks quorum and whose members „lose concentration“, for 45 delegates alone who have professionalized their status (of 58 of them in total), almost one million KM were paid as salaries and benefits (one-time allowances, per diems, meals, accommodation, „separated life“, „weekend visit to family“, use of the car). The work of the other House, House of Representatives cost the tax payers the additional 2.2. million KM in the first 6 months of 2012, only for the salaries of its 98 members. The biggest loss however, is not represented by the payments made for something that is by all standards insufficient work of the members and delegates of FBiH Parliament, but is in consequences of such work, further reflected in the gravity of the economic situation in the country, the number of unemployed and low quality of life.

THE DELEGATES OF HOUSE OF PEOPLES HAVE THE BIGGEST RESPONSIBILITY FOR BAD RESULTS OF FBiH PARLIAMENT. More than a half of different laws approved by the Government in the last year and a half are still subjected to the so-called active parliamentary procedure, while most of them are pending the opinion of the House of Peoples of BiH Federation. Good quality of implementation of the laws in the FBiH P House of Representatives since the beginning of the mandate has had an even rate with the highest indicators in the last quarter 2011 and the first quarter 2012, while the implementation of the laws in the House of Peoples of FBiH P in the past three months is by many times lower compared to other quarterly results in the current mandate, except for the first quarter 2011, as a time period during which the House of Peoples of FBiH P was constituted. 

CAUSES OF THE BLOCKADE ARE IN THE SYSTEM. 11th regular session of the House of Peoples which was opened on 17 May 2012, only to be adjourned after several hours of dispute, and the continuation of which did not (at the moment of public presentation of this report) ensue, even after more than two months, presents an obvious example of consequences of political turbulences in BH Federation and an indication of how bad results are. 12 laws that are still pending the delegates' decision, were debated in the meeting. With none of the mentioned laws entailing the need for invoking vital national interest, and the lack of the determination about the considered measures only further prolonging solving of the concerned issues, this meeting too is an example of difficult consequences of political instability in the Federation and the consequences of constitutional grey areas and deficiencies creating parallelism in the work of both houses of the Federal Parliament as well as the area for manipulation and obstruction. 

VITAL PROBLEMS OF CITIZENS ARE DOWN THE PRIORITIES LIST. That the parties’ negotiations and deals are taking primacy again over the key issues of citizens, like it was the case in the first year of the mandate of this Parliament, is also shown by the fact that although according to the schedule of meetings in June 2012, holding of three thematic sessions was envisaged that should focus on employment issues, the situation in healthcare sector and the issues of the young, all these issues were put on halt due to the current reconstruction of the authorities in BiH Federation.  

We present here the overview of the results of monitoring the work of the Republic of Srpska Government and National Assembly in the first three months 2012. The summary report outlines how and to which degree the authorities’ bodies of this entity worked, and how much they responded to everyday problems of common citizens. These activities are part of the Civic advocacy Partnership Program – CAPP II, financially supported by USAID.  More... 

THE RS GOVERNMENT CONTINUOUSLY VIOLATES ITS OWN RULES OF PROCEDURES in the part defining the deadlines for determining the Work Program, both individually for the ministries and for the entire RS Government. It has already become a practice that the Government issues the Program of its work in February, ignoring the logic, real needs as well as the Government Rules of Procedure which precisely defines that the Government should fulfill this obligation by the end of the current year for the next year.

ACCORDING TO THE EXPERTS, THE BUDGET FOR 2012 IS ON SHAKY GROUND. Besides the problem of a last-minute budget approval, there is another, much more serious problem – which has to do with its content – namely, the economic experts are warning about serious problems concerning both the realization and sustainability of the budget and its dependence on further indebtedness of RS as well as its non-development character.
Following a long period during which they negated the problem, which was brought to attention by the opposition members during the Assembly debates, the Government finally admitted that the RS had a problem to repay a tranche of the IMF loan in the amount of 240 million KM, which become due in the next two years.

IN ITS WORK PROGRAM THE RS GOVERNMENT REDUCED THE VOLUME OF THE TASKS ENVISAGED FOR 2012, COMPARED TO THE PREVIOUS YEARS. The Work Program of RS Government for 2012 envisages passing of a total 78 laws, or 14 less than in the previous year. The trend of decrease of planned laws is unstoppable and after, in 2007, the RS Government had planned on passing 123 laws, now that plan is being reduced by almost 40%.
The number of planned laws by the Justice Ministry, RS MIA has been significantly reduced. The Ministry of Family, Youth and Sport, the Ministry of Economic Relations and Regional Cooperation as well as the Ministry of Refugees and Displaced Persons plan to realize only 1 law. The Ministry of Science and Technology did not plan to pass any law in 2012.
The Finance Ministry, like in all previous years when monitoring was done, leads by the number of planned activities – 14 laws have been planned to be implemented in this Ministry.

THE RS GOVERNMENT SHOWED COMPLETELY LOW WORK EFFICIENCY IN THE FIRST QUARTER 2012. On the quarterly level, the RS Government approved only 15 of 42 planned laws, thus showing the efficiency level of only 36%. Looking from the point of view of the entire 2012, and more particularly, on the quarterly level, the RS Government implemented 19% of the total annual plan. With 3 approved bills that were not planned, the final result of the first quarter is 18 approved bills (9 in the form of a proposal and 9 in the form of a draft).

THE RESULTS POORER THAN IN THE FEDERATION. The RS Government approved less laws in the first quarter 2012 compared to the number of laws approved by the Federal Government, in the same time period. If we only look at the proposals of laws – almost two times less.
Also, while the Federation Government and Parliament are increasing the level of planned annual activities, the RS Government and National Assembly are drastically decreasing them. While the RS Government is persistently late with passing of its work program, FBiH Government, along with the TC Assembly, is the only government institution in BiH which passed its work program on time, i.e. by the end of 2011.

THE WORK OF THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT DEVOTED TO THE MOST IMPORTANT VITAL PROBLEMS OF RS CITIZENS. Of total number of the items on the agenda, realized by the RS Government in the first quarter 2012, only 15% have to do with the life problems of “common” citizens. Moreover, there were only 2% of measures that could really make the RS citizens’ lives better – this is even less than the volume accomplished by the previous RS Government, which on the average had between 4 and 5% of such measures in each year of its mandate.

VARYING CONTRIBUTION OF THE MINISTRIES TO THE WORK OF THE GOVERNMENT. The Finance Ministry was the most active during this time period, having prepared 88 bills for approval. High level of activity was also shown by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining as well as the Ministry of Education and Culture. The Ministries that influenced the results of the work of the RS Government in the first quarter 2012 very sporadically and to a significantly lesser degree included the Ministry of Refugees and Displaced Persons with only 8 activities on record, the Ministry of Governance and Local Self-Governance and the Ministry of Family, Youth and Sport. The Ministry of Science and Technolgoy as well as the RS MIA submitted less than twenty acts in the RS Government sessions in the past period.

THE FINAL RESULT OF THE JOINT WORK OF THE GOVERNMENT AND NA – THREE LAWS. Bad timing of the Government and holding of insufficient number of Parliament sessions have resulted in a grim fact that only 3 of 18 bills approved by the Government in the first quarter 2012 went through a complete parliamentary procedure. And this is one of the worst results since these institutions have been monitored.

GRIM PROJECTIONS OF ECONOMIC EXPERTS. As yet another warning to the ruling structures that it is high time for a serious approach and work in the interest of citizens to be taken, we here present a few opinions of economic experts:
Aleksa Milojevic:
„Unless something is done soon on significant increase of our GDP, we unfortunately must say that our capacities in terms of debt repayment are minimal... There were many and much more powerful nations who could not withstand something like this. They could not repay the IMF loan and thus entered the debt bondage.“
Svetlana Cenic:
„International creditors have no fear that they would not be able to collect their dues, however it is the citizens who should be worried about the foreign debt becoming bigger and bigger... There will be enough funds for loans, but the question is how big the remainder on which we have to live will be.“
Damir Miljevic:
„There is no way we can repay that, with the current economic policy, unless with a new loan... As of 2012 the Republic of Srpska will enter the debt bondage, and the same will happen with its economy and citizens. With the insensible and squandering government that we have at all levels, this is unfortunately inevitable.“

THE REPUBLIC OF SRPSKA NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

RS NA APPROVED THE WORK PROGRAM FOR 2012 WITH A DELAY. Rather than by the end of 2011, the Program was passed only on 23 February 2012. By that we mean a delay in operational sense, because, according to the basic logic, the work program for a certain period is passed before and not during that period. Unfortunately, the NA Rules of Procedure either do not take account of the logic or take it for granted, as they do not state any precise time schedule during which the Work Program is to accepted, nor who is accountable if it is not passed on time. This should be certainly rectified.

RS NA APPROVED THE BUDGET ALSO WITH A DELAY. Namely, the budget for 2012 was approved by the NA only on 28 December 2011. Given the fact that in order for a budget to be approved, the Council of Peoples must give its opinion on it and that for that not so simple procedure only three days had remained, a situation could have happen where for the first time since BH authorities institutions have been monitored, the financing in RS would have been done according to the Decision on Temporary Financing (i.e. in a restrictive form) – this was avoided only thanks to the Council of Peoples, i.e. all clubs of the peoples showing much more serious approach than the NA itself.

THE WORK PROGRAM FOR 2012 DRASTICALLY REDUCED THE VOLUME OF THE PLANNED WORK IN THIS YEAR, COMPARED TO THE LAST YEAR. According to the Work Program of RS NA for 2012, 80 laws are planned for approval, which is by even 23 laws less compared to the plan for 2011. The comparison with the plan from 2007 is even grimmer, as it shows that this year's program does not contain almost half of the activities. A solution to the continuous bad performance when it comes to planned obligations (only in the previous year RS NA did not implement as many as 36 planned laws), was not found in increasing the efficiency of the Government or the Assembly, but in drastic cut of the plan volume.

ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE PLAN – WORST BY NOW. Looking at the plan for the first quarter 2012, we realize that the MPs fully implemented only 5 laws or 31% of the plan for this period. Looking at the whole year, we find out that only 6% of the planned laws were passed by the RS NA during the year quarter, which is the worst result since the work of the RS NA has been monitored.
One law that was not planned in the Work Program was also passed in the first quarter.

RESULTS WORSE THAN IN THE FEDERATION. In the first three months of 2012, RS NA implemented almost two and a half times less legal enactments compared to the FBiH Parliament, which was deemed for years as the least efficient government institution in BiH. This change that has occurred, is less a result of good work of the Federal Parliament and more a result of disastrous fall of productivity of the RS Government and NA in the first quarter 2012.
Furthermore, while the Federation Parliament increases the level of the planned annual activities, the same are drastically reduced by the RS NA.

DUE TO POOR RESULTS, THE DISPORPORTION BETWEEN THE WORK DONE AND THE SALARIES WAS ESPECIALLY CONSPICUOUS DURING THIS PERIOD. The NA members spent a total of 7 working days in session in the first three months 2012, completing only 44 items of the agenda. The results accomplished show that they should be working at least 3 times harder. On the other hand, their salaries, besides certain cuts, have remained extremely high during that period.

EVERYONE IS SAVING EXCEPT FOR THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC. The RS National Assembly decreased the funds projected for its work from 10.700.000 KM in 2011 to 10.489.000 KM in 2012. The budget planned for the RS Council of Peoples is also cut by the amount exceeding 210.000,00 KM and now totals to 3,340.000 KM. Only the allocations for the Office of the RS President, after an almost 100%-increase of the budget in the last year, kept the same level, totaling to 10.919.000,00 KM, which means that the Office of the RS President is by as much as 430.000,00 KM more expensive than the work of 38 MPs and all accompanying services of RS NA.

THE GOVERNMENT IS THE MAIN CULPRIT FOR BAD RESULTS OF THE ASSEMBLY. Given a comfortable majority in the Assembly and the pronounced party discipline within the ruling parties (for which there are both pros and cons – on the one hand efficiency, and on the other hand depriving the institution itself of its sense, by its reducing to the role of the Government’s service), the main cause of bad performance of the National Assembly lies in insufficient amount of materials submitted to it by the Government for decision-making and in bad timing, too. Of total 18 bills approved by the RS Government in 2012, only 7 were debated until 4 March 2012, that is to say until the last held session of NA in the first quarter.

A HALF OF THE MPs DO NOT HAVE QUESTIONS AND EVEN MORE OF THEM DO NOT FEEL ANY NEED TO START ANY SORT OF INITIATIVE. As many as 52% of MPs did not ask a single question in the first quarter 2012. 46% did not participate in debates. The MPs also had very few initiatives in the first three months. The biggest problems is with the Club of MPs from SNSD, where a few MPs are completely absent from NA's work. Since the beginning of the current term of office we underline a very passive attitude by the following MPs: Gavrilo Bobar, Miroslav Kraljevic, Goran Mitrovic, Veljko Maric and Milenko Padjen, who are almost completely invisible in the Assembly hall, and although they may be acting in accordance with the interests of the party to which they belong they certainly do not act in the interest of their electorate, i.e. the citizens that elected them. Moreover, the MP Gavrilo Bobar did not attend 6 of 8 NA sessions, held in 1st quarter.

Centers for civic initiatives within the Project “Local government for quality of life of citizens – phase 2” funded by EU, start 7 local campaigns, that will be conducted till the January of 2013 in next municipalities: Bijeljina, Zenica, Mostar, Livno, Doboj, Travnik, Foca. Campaigns will be implemented in cooperation with several local NGOs, to whom recently trainings were also delivered regarding public advocacy and conducting of civic campaigns in the pre-election period. Issues that were chosen were identified in cooperation with local NGOs, and as a base for problem selection, recently published reports on quality of life of citizens in BiH municipalities were used. More… 

Bijeljina: “Increasing of work efficiency of Agency for small and medium companies”

In Bijeljina, Agency for development of small and medium enterprises (SME) exists for 6 years now, and it hasn’t achieved expected results in this area. Despite the fact it has been established and the fact that municipality allocates certain funds, in practice, there hasn’t been any results, even it can be said that results are devastating. In fact, the trend of reducing of newly founded in relation to the number of closed independent shops has continued. Also, due to bad communication between the Agency and undertakers, there is a problem of lack of information of undertakers about possibilities of obtaining subsidies. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out a reform of this Agency, where also increasing of budget funds is included and more efficient spending of these funds. Objectives of the campaign are: increasing of allocations from the municipality budget for subsidies for small and medium enterprises, creating of plan for advancement of model for subsiding of SME, and informing of undertakers about possibilities of subsiding over Agency for development of SME. Organization partner on implementation of this campaign is Paradigma from Bijeljina.

Zenica: “Space for youth”

Many organizations and independent groups that deal with issues of young people, among other things, and young people by themselves are faced with existential problems and insufficiency of space for their activities and for realization of their programs. In the area of Zenica municipality there are two spaces owned by the municipality, which are not being used, and could be used for these purposes, so the goal of this campaign is to ensure space from the municipality that could be given to young people from Zenica to use it. Campaign is being conducted in cooperation with Forum of Zenica citizens.

Mostar: “I choose safe cycling”

In the city of Mostar in the past several years trend of increasing of citizens that regularly use bicycle is noticeable, but there are no cycle tracks where they could drive safely across the city. Although the city authorities announced that they would start certain activities regarding this issue, nothing has been done yet to ensure safe cycling across the city. The goal of this campaign is to point to the need of planning and construction of the bicycle infrastructure in the city of Mostar, installation of horizontal and vertical signalization in those parts of the city where spatial possibilities allow this and where bicycle traffic is the most frequent, so adoption of decision in City Council of Mostar, where the city of Mostar would commit to consider bicycle infrastructure in the future planning and reconstructions of some streets. Campaign is conducted by Bicycle club Mostar in cooperation with CCI.

Livno: “Inctiative for making and adoption of Strategy for youth of Livno municipality”

Major problem in Livno is unemployment, especially among young people, so large number of young people leaves Livno because they can’t see any perspective for staying and starting their own family. Impossibility for finding any jobs is a cause for social anomalies, obstacles for starting of family and reproduction, is the main reason for leaving the country. Therefore there is a need for adoption of the systematic documents like Strategy for youth of Livno municipality (and supporting documents) that would, on a systematic way, define all the problems of young people in this municipality, and would offer solutions for their solving. The aim of the campaign is initiation of the thematic session on the Municipal council on the topic: “Issues of young people in Livno”, and submission of initiative to the municipality mayor and Municipal council for adoption of Strategy for youth of Livno municipality, which would be used for work on systematic improvement of status of young people in Livno municipality in next areas: employment, education, health, social politics, active involvement of youth in the society, informing, culture, sport, etc..Campaign is conducted by Council of youth of Livno municipality.

Doboj: „Opening of public kitchen in the area of Doboj municipality“

At the moment there are no public kitchens in Doboj, although according to the information from Center for social work there is a need for about 200 meals a day, so the aim of this campaign is to contribute to establishing of public kitchen in the area of the Doboj municipality. Campaign is conducted by ToPeer Doboj in cooperation with CCI.

Travnik: „System of integrated payment of utility bills”

Integrated payment of utility bills for citizens does not exist in Travnik, so the aim of the campaign is to introduce integrated payment of utility bills, what will cause increase of collectability and will reduce taxes which citizens pay at multiple paying. Campaign on the ground is conducted by Consumers association.

Foča: „Increasing of Municipal budget funds for poor people in the area of Foca municipality”

Public kitchen does not exist in the Foca municipality, nor any other form of systematic help to the poor citizens in this municipality. The aim of this campaign is to contribute to the opening of a public kitchen in the area of Foca municipality, and assurance of other forms of social help for poor people and socially endangered through Municipal budget. Campaign is conducted in cooperation with D.C. New hopes Foca , CCI’s Project partner.
All these local campaigns want to contribute to the improvement of quality of life on the local level, through better, more transparent work of the local government, where communication with citizens would be done over two-way channel.

Campaigns in healthcare sector, education and employment implemented by the CCI as part of the project CAPP II are focused on reducing corruption. CCI is focusing its activities in healthcare sector on passing and the implementation of the Rulebook for Prevention of and Fighting Corruption. In the segment of education, we have been engaged in making sure that the subjects in ethics and fighting corruption are incorporated in the plans and programs of education institutions in all parts of BiH, and consequently, in training of teachers in this field. So fare training has been organized for teachers from Republika Srpska. During the campaign, we had a cooperation with the entities’ and the cantonal health and education ministries trying to encourage them to take as much action as possible. So far we have organized two round tables with an aim of drawing the public’s attention to the necessity of higher engagement of government officials around the burning problem in BiH – huge unemployment. These activities were supported by USAID. More...

Teachers from the Republic of Srpska have so far attended the training in the fields of ethics and corruption, and with the beginning of the new school year the activities were also planned in Tuzla and Zenica-Doboj Cantons. We intend to hold the training for teachers in fighting corruption in three biggest centres in Zenica-Doboj Canton – Zenica, Visoko and Tesanj. A similar sort of cooperation was planned for the Tuzla Canton, and in reference to that, a number of meetings and contacts have been undertaken with the representatives of the mentioned ministries and pedagogical institutes. In the forthcoming period we plan to continue lobbying with other relevant entities’ and cantonal authorities aimed at further incorporation of the subjects in ethics and fighting corruption in the curricula and syllabi.

The campaigns that we run in the field of healthcare focus on the activities of monitoring the application of the Rulebook on Prevention and Fighting Corruption in those healthcare institutions that approved these documents. We also continue providing assistance to the hospitals and healthcare institutions which are in the process of designing and approval of the Rulebook. 

Also, a big number of new healthcare institutions have approved the Rulebooks on Prevention and Fighting Corruption, while a certain number of institutions have developed the Rulebooks and are waiting for the management board sessions which should formally approve them. In the forthcoming period too, CCI plans to cooperate with the entities’ and cantonal ministries to have the Rulebook approved in majority of healthcare institutions in all parts of BiH, as well as to make sure that the mentioned documents are effectively applied.

As far as employment is concerned, the Campaign focuses on the most responsible leaders in BiH with a view to solve this problem of Bosnia and Herzegovina citizens in a system manner. Through the campaign CCI procured passing of the Employment Strategy and the accompanying Action plans at both the state and the entities’ levels. During its advocacy of concrete measures from the Employment Strategy, and in order to monitor this process, CCI organized two round tables during the year te on the subject „The up-to-date implementation of the Employment Strategy and future activities on its implementation“.

The first responsibility forum was held on May 16, 2012 in Sarajevo with an aim of drawing the public’s attention to the necessity of higher engagement of government officials around the burning problem in BiH – huge unemployment. The second round table was held in Banja Luka, on May, 22 2012. In addition to responsible persons from the relevant ministries and the Employment Bureau, the forum was also attended by the representatives of the trade unions, employers’ associations, chambers of commerce, and the representatives of non-governmental sector, students, unemployed persons and other interested citizens. These two big forums received great media attention and coverage familiarizing the public with whatever the authorities representatives had done on the Employment Strategy up to that point and what the plans were for the future period. In order to seek new solutions with the representatives of the relevant ministries, concrete activities were agreed, in the form of a conclusion – so that the provisions of the existing entities’ employment strategies can be applied in practice and finally result in decrease of unemployment and better standard of living for the citizens.

Within the Project “Reducing of plastic bags usage in BiH” funded by EU, Centers for civic initiatives are carrying out number of activities which purpose is, among other things, to draw attention of citizens to pollution of the environment that is caused by discarded thin plastic bags. During the April CCI organized a photo contest, where the citizens of BiH were invited to send photos of polluted environment with plastic bags via MMS message or email. Expert jury selected 6 best photos and awarded them. See the awarded photos and read more…

Therefore, the campaign is being conducted on two tracks – towards citizens and towards authorities. At this moment the creation of draft legislation is being finished, that will be offered to the relevant ministries for environmental protection, so the aim is its adoption during 2012 and incorporation into the legal system in both entities of BiH.

From 6th  to 26th of April 2012, a photo contest was organized, where citizens of BiH were invited over printed and electronic media to send photos of polluted environment with plastic bags via MMS messages or email, and authors of best photos were awarded.

After collecting of the sent messages, on the CCI facebook profile, citizens had possibility to vote for the photos they liked, and therefore had chance to have influence on the final selection of the best photos.

Condition for someone to participate was to send a authentic photo, made anywhere on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina that shows pollution of the environment by plastic bags.

Citizens had sent more than 200 photos showing polluted environment by plastic bags. Expert jury selected 6 best photos that were made in the area of Mostar, Capljina, Han Pijesak, Fojnica and Foca, which in a characteristic way reflect pollution of the life environment by plastic bags.

Within the Project „New Local Communities for new local governance in Bosnia and Herzegovina“ CCI and partner DON Prijedor has launched a new web page www.novamz.ba where are all relevant information regarding the project and general data about local communities and they role in the BiH society. These activities were financially supported by the Delegation of the European Commission in BiH. More....

The Centres for Civic Initiatives (CCI) and DON from Prijedor, with the support of more than 50 non-governmental organizations, will work in the next period on the amendments to the legal framework defining the position and the role of a local community in BiH. This implies submitting to FBiH Parliament and RS National Assembly of an initiative for amendments to the law on local self-governance. Based on the previous analyses and surveys, as well as with the help of the experts in the field of local self-governance, we have identified certain initial solutions that could promote, in a system manner, the work of the LCs, placing an emphasis on citizens' participation in making local decisions. We will communicate the said solutions to the representatives of target municipalities, LCs, NGOs and other interested parties, in order to jointly arrive at optimum solutions for all the participants in the process.

Special emphasis will be placed on the selection of the leadership of local communities, participation of citizens through the local communities in the process of making crucial decisions in municipalities, such as the approval of the municipal budget, as well as in the fields of planning, education, project development, exchange of information and reporting between the municipality, local communities and citizens.

It is our aim to make LCs more functional institutions so that the citizens can use them for the purposes for which they were established. LCs should be a mechanism enabling the citizens to, among other things, receive information, attend the public debates and public hearings, and, certainly, participate in the decision-making processes of relevance for their community. In parallel to submission of the Initiative for Amendments to the Entities’ Laws, we will also start the process of the amendments to municipal by-laws in those municipalities that show good will and readiness to improve the relations and the cooperation with the citizens. The situation regarding this issue presently varies from one municipality to another, which would be harmonized with the adoption of the proposed legal amendments.

This project was presented to the interested parties through press conferences held in Sarajevo and Banja Luka, while the proposed solutions for amendments of the law were discussed in Round Tables in Sarajevo, Banja Luka and Prijedor.

As part of its realization of the project activities in municipalities Srebrenica, Bratunac, Vlasenica and Milići, in which CCI is carrying out the component of the “Citizens’ Participation in Decision-Making Processes” of the Project “Reconciliation and Development of the Communities/Participatory Democratic Development in 4 Municipalities of the Birac Region 2011-2013”, CCI have made the reports on monitoring the application of decisions. We have found that existing citizens’ participation mechanism, for the biggest part, are implemented. CARITAS and AC Priroda are CCI’s partners on this project, which is financed with the support of the Government of Switzerland (Swiss Development and Cooperation Agency, SDC) and the Government of Lichtenstein. More…

Meeting of the Team for Project Development and Application in Zvornik

For all 4 municipalities CCI have created the Reports on Monitoring the Application of the Decisions, as of 30 June 2012. At the same time, in cooperation with the Working Development Groups, composed of the representatives of the Municipal Administrative Service and local communities, CCI gave support to the responsible persons in municipal administrations and trained them on how to apply the decisions, all aimed at improving the implementation process. 

The report determines that in Milici Municipality the existing citizens’ participation mechanisms are for the biggest part being implemented. Milici Municipality uses the mechanism of transparency and holding the public debates on important issues in the field of decision-making by the local authorities as well as in making the decisions of major importance for the citizens. The Decision on transparency of work of the Municipal Assembly concerning issuing of the information flyer after holding the sessions is also applied. On the other hand, the Municipality of Vlasenica introduced a novelty in its work from the point of view of transparency, enabling the citizens to ask the elected representatives, online, the questions about the work and the functioning of the municipality being a service of citizens.

It has been determined that the existing citizens’ participation mechanisms are largely implemented in the municipalities of Bratunac and Srebrenica. For Srebrenica, it was noticed that the Municipality made an additional progress compared to the previous year, especially in the segment of transparent allocation of funds for the NGOs and the citizens’ associations, as a public call was announced at the end of June for allocation of budgetary funds for projects. CCI believes that the incorporation of two Public Debates in the MA Work Program is a ’good practice’ as part of holding public forums in this municipality. In the first half-year the discussion of work of MA was debated, while in the second half of the year holding of the Public Debate on the work of the municipal mayor and the president of MA was planned. 

In the recommendations for improvement of the application of citizens’ participation mechanisms in decision-making, for all 4 municipalities, CCI suggested that it was necessary to conduct a polling of citizens in LCs on their priority problems, to the end of consistent application of the earlier issued Decisions on Opinion Polls as a tool for setting the priorities and criteria for determining the priorities in the process of budget preparation for the next year.

Within the project segment relating to the work with the joint Project Development and Application Team, after nomination of the joint project at the beginning of the year, and introduction of the free access to the Internet for Bratunac, Vlasenica and Milici municipalities as well as of the school for learning foreign languages in Srebrenica, the Team members, with CCI’s support, designed a new ‘mini project’. The concept of the construction project for the ‘mini playground’ for the children in Bratunac, Vlasenica and Milici was discussed and debated in the meeting at Zvornik. 

CCI have been engaged to give support during the period 01 October 2007 to 31 December 2013 in working with the Local Communities (LCs) representatives and the relevant members of municipal authorities, in order to ensure the issuing and implementation of the Decisions on citizens’ participation and transparency of work at the local level.