SNSD Leader Milorad Dodik states this party rejects any proposals for forming a “Republic of BiH” and carrying out its territorial transformation, stating that it represents the collapse of the Dayton, that it is anti-constitutional and threatens peace in BiH.
Dodik said at a press conference in Banjaluka after the SNSD Main Board’s session that the SNSD found it unacceptable.
He believes that, unless the original Dayton is respected, the provisions of the BiH Constitution, the Civil Rights and Freedoms Act, which provides for the right to self-determination, should be implemented.
“We have determined that the introduction of the Bonn powers was in violation of the Constitution and not in accordance with an international agreement and that we find everything produced on the basis of those powers temporary,” Dodik added.
He said that the SNSD rejected the interventionism of the international community and the decisions imposed by the High Representative and demanded dialogue within BiH on everything that was the subject to that interventionism, above all the laws changing the system of jurisdiction that caused Srpska to lose more than 60 competences.
“We believe that there is no possibility of discussing the incorporation of the fields such as defense, security, judiciary, fiscal system into the Constitution. We will continue with our commitment to the constitutionality in BiH,” Dodik said.
Dodik said that at Wednesday’s session of the SNSD Main Board, 64 conclusions were adopted related to different fields as a reference to the situation in Srpska and BiH, from the political situation, economy, and education to demography.
He stated that the Main Board had formed a committee to define the final version of the conclusions in the next few days.
“We have proposed a session of the National Assembly to be held in order to define a proposal to discuss the Law on Defense, the Law on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council and the Law on Indirect Taxes with the Federation of BiH,” Dodik added.
He believes that the Srpska National Assembly should form a delegation to discuss it with an FBiH Parliament delegation and see how this issue can be resolved.
“If the aforementioned activities are rejected, we will demand that laws enacted under the pressure by the High Representative are not considered valid,” Dodik stressed.
He said that it was assessed at Wednesday’s session of the Main Board that the economic situation in Srpska was developing well with an import coverage ratio of 77 percent.
“We also discussed demography and a birth rate policy and decided that all young married couples who want it, can get an interest rate free loan from Republika Srpska. After they get their first child, one-third of the loan is written off, after the second child, the two thirds, and after the third child, the whole loan is written off,” Dodik said.
He has said that a plan will be drafted for the next five years in coordination between the Government and the local communities in order to build enough capacities for the accommodation of pre-school children and that attendance should be free of charge.
“We will work on the general reform of education. We reject the possibility of maintaining the present situation and the issuing of fake diplomas. Those who issued fake diplomas will lose licenses. Education should be adapted to contemporary trends, the market and the economy,” Dodik said.
He has said that Slavko Mitrović was elected the president of the Political Council, and Zoran Tegeltija the president of the Socio-Economic Council.
The SNSD Main Board remains committed to the basic constitutional principle, namely, that BiH was created by the Dayton agreement which stipulates that it is made up of the three constituent peoples and the two Entities, that a blow on the constituent peoples and equal Entities is a blow on the Peace Agreement by which BiH was created in 1996.
The Main Board concluded that the Entities and the constituent peoples are the holders of sovereignty and that any imposition of sovereignty beyond that is unconstitutional and anti-Dayton. The sovereignty of BiH does not exist outside the sovereignty of the two Entities and the three constituent peoples, so it should be considered derived from that structure.
One of the conclusions of the SNSD Main Board is that it is necessary to adopt amendments and supplements to the Republika Srpska Criminal Code which would introduce criminal responsibility for actions by Republika Srpska elected representatives at the level of BiH which are contrary to positions of the Republika Srpska National Assembly, Government, and the Republika Srpska president.
The SNSD Main Board has said that it is necessary to urgently adopt a law on the BiH Constitutional Court and proposed that the Republika Srpska National Assembly launch talks with the FBiH and the constituent peoples in order to draft it.
Also, the SNSD Main Board considers the presence of foreign judges in the BiH Constitutional Court unacceptable. It concluded that the BiH Constitutional Court exceeds the usual competences of constitutional courts and thus violates the BiH Constitution.
The Main Board proposed that Republika Srpska, in keeping with its status in BiH as stipulated by the BiH Constitution, should ask the FBiH to reach an agreement on voiding the BiH Law on Defense, the BiH Law on Indirect Taxes, and the Law on the BiH High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council.
If the FBiH bodies are not ready for the agreement, the SNSD Main Board will propose that Republika Srpska, as a party to these agreements, leave the agreements and reject all unconstitutional laws at the level of BiH /the Law on the BiH Court and Prosecutor’s Office, the Law on the BiH State Investigation and Protection Agency, the Law on Intelligence-Security Agency…/ and says it is necessary to conduct a debate and reach agreement between the two Entities and the three constituent peoples on all these issues.
The Main Board supports an SNSD delegation taking part in negotiations on the formation of joint BiH institutions and asks that the delegation continues insisting on the principle of representation based on election results while forming joint BiH institutions, as well as on the position which clearly says that Republika Srpska is against membership in NATO.
One of the conclusions pertains to the formation of a legal team in order to launch a legal procedure in foreign countries, as this is impossible in BiH, which would determine the responsibility of the high representative for violations of the General Framework Agreement on Peace, particularly Annex 4 of the Agreement, that is, the BiH Constitution.
Also, the SNSD Main Board asks and proposes to Republika Srpska institutions to reject all anti-constitutional and anti-Dayton decisions made by the high representative by fraud, that is by the use of the Bonn powers, and considers the stay and behavior of the high representative in BiH, whose statements increasingly frequent contribute to disagreements than to agreements in BiH, unacceptable and non-productive.
The Main Board says that any appointment at the level of BiH is unacceptable as long as the BiH Council of Ministers is in a caretaking capacity, stressing that the behavior of the Bosniak elite eliminates prospects for the legitimate representation of Republika Srpska and the Serbian people in joint institutions, by which the election system has been degraded.
The Main Board says it is unacceptable that the FBiH has been misappropriating VAT funds from Republika Srpska and asks the SNSD expert committee to prepare a study on separation from the VAT system of BiH and opening a separate VAT account for Republika Srpska.
The SNSD Main Board rejects the program Declaration adopted by the SDA at its congress on September 14 and says that such positions additionally destabilized BiH and its peace, and cannot be a foundation for any negotiations, as the SDA proposes, and supports meetings between all political parties in Republika Srpska dedicated to the new political circumstances after the adoption of a number of resolutions and declarations at the SDA Congress.
The Main Board recommends the Republika Srpska Government to organize a meeting as soon as possible with the most important businessmen in Republika Srpska dedicated to the economic development in the next four years, and to pay additional attention to reform of public companies, saying that the reform of companies which burden the Republika Srpska Budget or require additional funds from the Budget, should be implemented without delay.
The Main Board suggests the Government to review employment in public companies, to continue with the policy of all sorts of social benefits, with particular focus on improving the status of pensioners, and to build national self-respect through the affirmation of national identity, the foundation of which is cultural heritage, that is, tangible and intangible heritage.
Among other things, the SNSD Main Board demands that an institutional mechanism be established, according to which the most successful graduate students, Republika Srpska citizens, from the 50 most prestigious universities in the world, and the best graduate students from domestic universities, would have priority in employment, and insists on the tightening of criteria and raising quality of higher education with the aim of combating “fake diplomas.”
