Federation government

End of an Era

Europe Now candidate Jakov Milatovic (C) and the leaders of the ruling majority in Podgorica, Montenegro. Photo: EPA-EFE/BORIS PEJOVIC

Hundreds of people took to the streets of Sarajevo on Friday, demanding that that children be better protected at the care home for children with special needs in the village of Pazaric near the Bosnian capital, and calling for the alleged abusers to be prosecuted.

The protesters were incensed by images revealed at a news conference a day earlier by Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina lawmaker Sabina Cudic, which appeared to show children at a care facility in the village of Pazaric tied to beds and other furniture.

Under strong local and international pressure, Bosnia's Central Election Commission, CIK, on Tuesday adopted a decision fixing the country's dysfunctional election law and enabling the establishment of a new government in the Federation entity, which it has lacked since last October's elections.

Matthew Palmer, acting deputy assistant secretary at the State Department's Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, told the US Congress's House of Representatives foreign affairs committee on Wednesday that a post-election crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina could have serious consequences.

Hundreds of disgruntled people from different parts of Bosnia are expected to arrive in the capital, Sarajevo, on Wednesday, to join more than 300 war veterans who have been staging protests in front of the Federation entity government building for two days.

A key opposition party, Union for better future, SBB, will fully support the government of Bosnia's Federation entity and its reform agenda, party leader and media mogul Fahrudin Radoncic said.

The head of the Privatization Agency in Bosnia's Federation entity, Suhret Fazlic, has resigned in a disagreement over the government's decision to form a private company that would assume some of the agency's responsibilities.

Leaders of the union of pensioners' associations in Bosnia's Federation entity will meet next week to decide the date for protests against worsening living standards, the vice-president of the union, Mehmedalija Rapa, said.

Rapa said that up to 35,000 pensioners are expected to join the protests, expected sometime in the latter half of September.

The trade union of Elektroprivreda BiH, one of the two power companies in Bosnia's Federation entity, has warned of imminent strike action if the government goes ahead with a plan to cut their salaries.