Aleksandar Milješić, acting head of the Department for Culture, International Cooperation, Sports and Non-Governmental Organizations in Prijedor, returned his councilor mandate in the Prijedor City Assembly after TI BiH reported him to the competent Ministry for performing several incompatible functions, based on reporting by Capital.ba portal. Milješić submitted the decision on termination of mandate to the City Assembly, after which it was confirmed by the Central Election Commission on June 26, 2023.
Milješić received his councilor mandate in the last Local Elections in 2020 while he was also director of the Secondary School Center in Prijedor, which is not prohibited by law although the founder of this public institution is the local parliament, in which he held a mandate.
However, at the end of March this year, the Prijedor City Assembly elected him as acting head of the Department for Culture, International Cooperation, Sports and Non-Governmental Organizations, whereby he practically found himself in three positions at the same time: councilor in the legislative and head of Department in the executive branch, as well as director of the Secondary School Center, i.e., a public institution.
Transparency International in BiH submitted a petition to the Ministry of Administration and Local Self-Government, i.e., the Administrative Inspection at this ministry, requesting verification of the allegations and possible action if it is determined that Milješić is indeed in a conflict of interest, i.e., that he performs multiple incompatible functions.
“According to the Law on Civil Servants and Employees in Local Self-Government Units, a civil servant cannot be a councilor or have an executive function in government bodies, and Mr. Milješić performs the function of civil servant, i.e., head of Department and councilor in the Prijedor City Assembly“, states the report that TI BiH submitted.
The response delivered by the Administrative Inspection states that on June 26, 2023, it was determined that the Mayor of Prijedor appointed Milješić to the position of acting head of the Department for Culture, International Cooperation, Sports and Non-Governmental Organizations, and that on the same day the Central Election Commission made a decision on termination of the councilor mandate in the city Assembly.
Milješić has in the meantime also resigned from the position of director of the Secondary School Center in Prijedor, thereby formally ceasing to perform functions that could lead to conflicts of interest, but it is problematic that this happened only after action by TI BiH, and not by official institutions that should deal with preventing conflicts of interest in government institutions.
It is precisely the lack of timeliness of competent institutions, their avoidance of implementing legal provisions that are simultaneously insufficiently precise and often overlap in jurisdictions, that are the main reasons why performing multiple functions, especially those that can lead to conflicts of interest, is a common occurrence in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Thus, according to records kept by the Registry of Officials, there are currently around 300 officials in BiH who perform multiple functions, which is why TI BiH has long advocated for amendments to legal provisions that lead to improvement of conflict of interest laws at all levels in BiH, especially since this is one of the 14 key priorities that the EU has set before BiH on the path to candidate status.
