Bosnia Federation 'Wasted' Four Years, Report Says

The Centers of Civil Initiatives, CCI, a non-governmental organization that monitors the work of governments, in a report on Wednesday on the work of the Federation entity in Bosnia, said most of its time was wasted in a series of crises.

"An almost permanent political crisis, at first manifested through obstructions and delays in constituting parliament and the government, and then through unsuccessful attempts of the executive government and break-ups of parliamentary majorities, represents the primary determinant defining the last four years in the Federation," Majda Behrem Stojanov, of CCI, said.

The report covering the mandate of the current executive and legislature recalled the many unusual political developments in the past term, such as the political composition of the government failing to match the will of the parliamentary majority.

"Although the Federation Parliament issued a vote of no-confidence in the government at the beginning of 2013, the government continued to work in the same composition," the report noted. "The government literally functioned as a mini-parliament".

The report blamed "vagueness and flaws in the constitution and the election Law" for the fact that it proved "almost impossible to remove a government, once it was appointed".

Besides the amount of time lost on party disputes, another significant loss of time was the government's engagement in dismissing and appointing members of different institutions and boards.

Meanwhile, the report noted that the Federation government increased the size of the debt in the entity, which rose by 300 million euro from 2011.

"The main problem is that the money was not invested in development but in public spending," the report...

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