KOVAČEVIĆ: SRPSKA DID NOT PROVIDE A SINGLE MARK MORE FOR BiH INSTITUTIONS' BUDGET; SNSD WANTS HIGHER SALARIES FOR EMPLOYEES

SARAJEVO, JULY 27 /SRNA/ - Serb member of the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, Radovan Kovačević, said that the SNSD wants the largest share of this year's budget for the institutions of BiH to be allocated to increasing the salaries of employees in joint BiH institutions.

Kovačević said that Republika Srpska's contribution to the budget of the BiH institutions has not increased by a single convertible mark /KM/ during the four years of the current term. "We care about every person working in these institutions. We want salaries to be even higher and the overall standard of living to be better, but this is the financial framework that could be provided at this time," Kovačević told reporters after the House of Peoples session, at which the budget for the joint institutions and BiH's international obligations for this year was adopted. Kovačević said that the SNSD MPs, as representatives of the majority will of the people of Republika Srpska and the Serb people, had done their part today to ensure that the budget was adopted. He stressed that, from Republika Srpska's perspective, the most important point is that the budget has not been increased. "What we have always insisted on is that we have only ever allowed and supported an increase in the budget if it was intended to raise employees' salaries. That is why, as Minister /Srđan/ Amidžić said, and I will repeat once again, the overall budget is BAM 10 million higher than last year's, and the allocation for employees' salaries has increased by nearly BAM130 million. That means that, in essence, if salaries are excluded, the budget has actually been reduced," Kovačević explained. Kovačević said that the SNSD would not have voted in favour of the budget had it included funding for BHRT and the so-called BiH cultural institutions. "I am grateful to Finance and Treasury Minister /Srđan/ Amidžić for standing firm, acting professionally, and consistently insisting that the Constitution, the constitutional framework and structure, as well as the laws of BiH, must be respected," Kovačević said, adding that the adopted budget was the one prepared by the Ministry of Finance and Treasury and Minister Amidžić. Kovačević said that, had it been up to Republika Srpska, the budget would have been adopted in December last year. "All employees of the BiH institutions could have celebrated Christmas, Easter, Eid and all other holidays with higher salaries. Unfortunately, someone chose to play political games with their salaries, their lives and their livelihoods. It certainly was not us," Kovačević said. Responding to claims by opposition MPs from Republika Srpska that the adopted budget increased funding for certain institutions, Kovačević said this was solely due to higher salaries for employees in those institutions. "If you ask us what we think of those institutions, our position remains the same as it has always been. They are unconstitutional institutions and should not exist. Whenever we have the opportunity, and when we have an opposition willing to stand united with the representatives of the majority will in Republika Srpska, we will get that job done," Kovačević stressed. He stressed that the number of employees in the institutions of BiH is decreasing, rather than increasing, as claimed by some MPs. "What is also extremely important for us, when it comes to Republika Srpska, is that Republika Srpska has not contributed a single mark more to the budget of the institutions of BiH," Kovačević stressed. He declined to answer questions from a journalist who had sworn at members of the House of Representatives, Sanja Vulić and Milorad Kojić.