CIN | Bradar and eight advisers

The Chairman of the House of Peoples of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PFBiH), Lidija Bradar, has illegally appointed five out of eight of her counselors, the Center for Investigative Reporting.

She violated federal regulations, appointing counselors to persons who did not have the necessary five years of working experience.
Moreover, one of them was first job, while others had work experience from eight months to two years. Most of her advisers are members of the parties or relatives and acquaintances of politicians.

Officials are not obliged to invite competitors to hire counselors - they elect them by themselves. This right was also used by Bradar when appointing his advisor.

Their average monthly income is from 2,100 to 2,600 KM.

For more than two years and two months, Bradarini's consultants spent more than 306,000 KM from the federal budget for salaries and allowances.

According to the FBiH Civil Service Law, although they do not have the status of civil servants, advisors must meet the same requirements as candidates for assistants to senior civil servants. These conditions do not specify the Law, but the special Regulation according to which it takes five years of work experience.

Advisors from the party

Lidija Bradara was appointed the Speaker of the House of Peoples of the PFBiH in mid-January 2015 and set up eight advisers until March 2017. They advise in the fields of: agriculture, relations with the international community and the non-governmental sector, economy and social activities, justice and administration, and legislative activity. Three are advisers for the clubs of the Croat, Bosniak and Serbian peoples and chose them at the suggestions of the president of these clubs.

Bradara appointed twice more advisers than her predecessor and party counterpart Tomislav Martinovic, retaining two advisors who worked in his mandate - party colleagues Goran Bozic and Slaven Zeljko.

Christmas is her advisor in the field of agriculture, water management and forestry. As a candidate of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), BiH also tried in the local elections in 2016. However, he did not win the mandate for the Municipal Council in Citluk. Christmas as an advisor to Bradare has been engaged since mid-January 2015. According to information provided by the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIN) from the House of Peoples of the PFBiH in March this year, Christmas had only more than three years of service. This means that he gained his first work experience working as a advisor to Bradarina's predecessor. However, Božić subsequently enclosed additional documentation of another two years of work experience in a private company.

Zeljko also did not fulfill the legal requirements for the position of adviser. He did not even have a working day when Martinovic appointed him as a consultant in February 2014. Zeljko today advises Bradar on relations with the international community and the non-governmental sector. He is a Master of Political Science, and before the employment in the House of Peoples, he was the President of the Youth of the HDZBiH. He did not want to talk to CIN reporters.

In November and December 2015, Bradara appointed two more advisers without any necessary experience - Simun Herzeg is appointed counselor for the Club of the Croatian People, and Semir Hajduk, an advisor for the Club of the Bosniak People. Hajduka Bradari was proposed by Osman Catic, President of the Bosniak Club and his fellow citizen from Konjic. Ćatić told CIN that he proposed Hajduk because of the experience he gained by working in the judiciary. However, according to information from the House of Peoples of the PFBiH, he had no working experience.

Hajduk did not want to tell CIN journalists whether he was a member of a political party. "You know that in this country, in 99% of cases, it is impossible to tie it at least formally to someone to do anything - to get to that job or anything," Hajduk said.

Herceg came as a counselor with a one-year working experience of trainees at the Student Center of the University of Mostar. His uncle is Nevenko Herceg, a member of the HDZBiH and the prime minister of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton. Nevenko Herceg told CIN that he did not help his cousin to get a job.

In January 2015, Bradara was appointed as an adviser to Anu Popovic, a journalist with more than 15 years of service. She advises the Chair of the House of Peoples in the field of justice, administration and local self-government and is the only one that meets the requirements for the necessary years of work experience, writes CIN.

Knowledge from Kiseljak

In December 2015, the FBiH Parliament amended the Civil Service Law, and the provision on necessary work experience was no longer in force. However, in December 2016 the FBiH Constitutional Court ruled that these changes were unconstitutional. Since then, the five-year work experience has again been in force.

Bradara appointed two of her counselors while the FBiH Civil Service Act - Jelena Kunić and Irena Mrnjavac - was amended and did not refer to the rule of five years of work experience.

Mrnjavac is an advisor to Bradare in the field of economy and social activity. Prior to engagement in the House of Peoples, she was an adviser to Josip Kvasina, a member of the HDZ from Kiseljak, the chairwoman of the Assembly of the Central Bosnia Canton (SBK). Later, she was dismissed as a counselor at the Assembly of the SBK because she did not fulfill the statutory requirements for that post. Mrnjavac is a member of the Youth of the HDZBiH and comes from Kiseljak, from where she is also the head of Lidija Bradar. She told CIN reporters she did not want to talk about this topic.

Kunić is advisor to Bradara for the Serbian People's Club. She previously worked as Advisor to the Chair of the Cantonal Assembly 10. CIN journalists did not receive any answers for the appointment of the CIN even after several months from the Assembly.

Mrnjavac and Kunić are still counselors, but Secretary of the House of Peoples Izmir Hadžiavdić thinks that the decisions on their appointment should be put out of effect "because they are no longer in accordance with the Law".

On the other hand, Bradar says that the FBiH Constitutional Court made political decisions. She even hired one counselor after the annulled Amendments to the Law. Stjepan Dujo, a lawyer with a one-year working experience, advises in the field of the constitution. Since October 2015, Dujo has been an employee of the Foreign Service Department. From August 2016, he was on unpaid leave from work because he was running for the mayor of the Municipality of Novi Travnik in front of the Croatian list for Novi Travnik. After the failure of the elections, he returns to work in the Service for Foreigners' Affairs until February 2017, when again due to the engagement for counsel in the House of Peoples, he leaves for unpaid leave.

Although she named her advisers contrary to the Law, Bradar will not be subject to sanctions, unless the judiciary institutions deal with this case, the Secretary of the House of Peoples explains. "I see you rob the bank: if I do not report you, you have no consequence," said Hadziavdic.

The brader of sanctions does not think: "Believe me, I'm so sure of my decision not to think about it."

She told CIN reporters she was very proud of her advisors and would be happy if they were given the opportunity to do much more responsible jobs:

"Let's say they are working in European integration with the Government of the Federation, to be MPs today, ministers."

• 16 Aug, 2017
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