Proposed amendments to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s excise tax law aimed at allowing the Council of Ministers to reduce or fully abolish fuel excise duties were placed on the agenda of an urgent session of the House of Peoples on Monday but were effectively blocked after the SNSD delegation left the chamber, preventing a quorum, local media reported.
Delegates from the SNSD and HDZ parties initially voted against the inclusion of the proposal but remained present in the session. After the first agenda item—amendments to the law on salaries and allowances in state institutions—was adopted, SNSD delegate Sredoje Nović requested a 30-minute break.
When the session resumed, SNSD delegates did not return to the chamber.
An additional procedural break was called in an attempt to restore quorum, but local media reported that previous parliamentary practice suggested the required attendance was unlikely to be re-established.
Earlier in the session, SNSD and HDZ delegates expressed opposition to proposals by opposition members to expand the agenda.
Tensions increased during a prolonged debate, prompting House of Peoples chairman Kemal Ademović (NiP) to cut off microphones of speakers exceeding the two-minute speaking limit, including SNSD delegate Nikola Špirić and HDZ deputy chairman Dragan Čović.
During the debate, opposition delegate Dženan Đonlagić (DF) argued that SNSD’s resistance to excise tax reforms was driven by concerns over reduced entity revenues, a claim rejected by SNSD’s Radovan Kovačević, who said the Republika Srpska entity had sufficient funds and was experiencing economic growth.
Alongside the excise amendments, the agenda also included draft laws on restricting the disposal of assets for the prevention of terrorism financing, as well as legislation on electricity market regulation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.