bne IntelliNews -

Representatives of the opposition parties in Bosnia’s Federation parliament have called for the resignation of Prime Minister Fadil Novalic, after the ruling coalition lost its majority, local daily Dnevni List reported.

At the latest parliamentary session, the ruling coalition failed to gain enough support to pass the session’s agenda, and according to Nasir Beganovic of the opposition Alliance for a Better Future (SBB), the voting of the session’s agenda was an informal no-confidence vote for the government, which it seemingly failed.

On June 4, one of the parties in the ruling coalition – the Democratic Front (DF) – withdrew its support from the government following Novalic's decision to propose a change in the procedure for appointing managers of state-controlled companies, without him informing the respective government ministers.

According to the new rule, approved at a government session on June 4, the management of state-controlled companies will be appointed by the government instead of the respective minister. Currently, the most attractive companies – those operating in the energy sector – are under the control of the energy ministry, which was previously headed by Reuf Bajrovic of the DF.

On June 12, all four ministers from the DF resigned. However, Federation President Mirko Cavara accepted only the resignation of Energy Minister Bajrovic, saying he would need further discussions to decide on the other three ministers: Deputy PM Aleksandar Remetic, Social Policy Minister Milan Mandilovic and Tourism Minister Snjezana Soldat.

Before the ministers’ resignation, the two parties that remained in the coalition – the hardline Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HDZ BiH) and the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) – were giving contradictory statements about whether they would seek a new partner to secure a majority in the parliament.

Should they decide not to enter into coalition with another party, they will have just 42 MPs in the Federation’s parliament, while they need at least 50 to secure a majority. Local daily Dnevni List has reported that all opposition parties have declared they will not enter into the ruling coalition.

In November, SDA, HDZ BiH and DF signed an agreement on joint action at all levels of Bosnia's government.