Sarajevo Canton Assembly voted a new Government on Tuesday, over a month after the old composition lost the confidence vote in the assembly and a new majority was formed, with two events casting the light onto the voting process.
The new Government consisting of candidates of the Democratic Action Party, the Alliance for Better Future (SBB BiH) and the Democratic Front (DF) was backed by 18 delegates, while 15 objected and one abstained from the vote.
But, the appointment of a DF's nominee for the post of Economy Minister, Drasko Jelicic, shed light on the whole process.
Although the Prime Minister-designate, Mario Nenadic, announced that two Croat ministers, two from the rank of Others and eight Bosniaks would take an oath on Tuesday, it appeared that one of those ministers changed his ethnicity during a 15-minute break.
DF's Jelicic who previously declared as a Croat, expressly changed his affiliation and turned into a Serb minister, which sparked the reaction of the opposition parties who called on the Serb Caucus in the Assembly to invoke the vital national interest protection procedure.
“This is unprofessional, they are making fool of us,” said Damir Niksic, a delegate of the opposition SDP party, who also complained about Nenadic exposé which initially did not say one minister would be a Serb.
“I hear someone changed his ethnicity in the meantime, I propose another break so you can change your exposé. It appears you are playing with the delegates and citizens. You delivered the information too late, and now I see you provided us with false information,” said Niksic.
“If you're calling it a mistake, that's impermissible and unacceptable. You're not allowed to do that, he added.
The opposition also raised the issue of delivery of the ministers’ biographies, specifically the two new names they have received immediately prior to the session, although the assembly's rules of procedures stipulate the delegates should be delivered the names 12 or in extreme situation three days prior to the vote.
Exactly these two ministers were a consequence of an affair involving the SDA party, which entered the new Government alongside the SBB BiH and DF. The party and its senior officials came into the spotlight after a leak of an audio file, which unveiled details of an alleged deal on vote-buying in return for a job arrangement in public institutions.
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Besides Asim Sarajlic, the chief of SDA Personnel Committee, who resigned all positions in the party's leadership, the audio file also involved names of Emir Hadzihafizbegovic and Senad Hasanspahic, two SDA's nominees for the Sarajevo Canton Government, where they were mentioned in the context of nepotism-related arrangements.
Although the party's first statement following the file leak did not suggest they would do that, the SDA replaced the two nominees and accepted Sarajlic's resignation.
The prosecution opened an investigation into the allegations stated in the audio recording, while the SDA announced its bodies would carry out an internal investigation.
