In Istocno Sarajevo, a billboard of support for Milorad Dodik, the president of Republika Srpska (RS), has been put up, in the context of all previous events in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) associated with this name.
“When the people believe, verdicts fall… Dodik will win, (Republika) Srpska will win!” was written in Cyrillic alongside Dodik’s photograph on a large billboard that was set up in Istocno Sarajevo.
This support comes at a time when Dodik, after the Central Election Commission (CEC) of BiH revoked his mandate as president of RS based on a final verdict of the Court of BiH, is announcing the calling of a referendum.
“The people gave me the mandate, the people will decide about my end”
Given that he will buy out the one-year prison sentence because that is legally possible in BiH, and Dodik’s defense has already submitted such a request to the Court of BiH, this ban on political activity for the next six years is nonetheless harder for Dodik to accept.
Namely, after the CEC decision, Dodik stated that “the people gave him the mandate” and that “the people will decide about his end,” announcing that this is precisely the reason for calling a referendum. The referendum, as he said, “should be an expression of the will of the citizens of RS, and not a decision of the institutions in Sarajevo.”
However, legal experts point out that such an initiative has no legal basis in the Constitution of BiH, in the entity constitutions, or in election legislation. A referendum on the CEC decision or the Court of BiH verdict would have no legal force and could not annul the decisions of the competent institutions.
Opposition rejects the invitation, Stanivukovic with Dodik?
Shortly after the CEC announced its decision, Dodik broke off cooperation with the Coalition of the Three and HDZ and invited the opposition in RS to form a “government of national unity.” Most opposition parties rejected this offer, stating that they are ready for early elections for the entity president, which is mandatory when Dodik steps down from the function, because the RS will not have a president.
However, Drasko Stanivukovic from the PDP stated that he is against early elections. The president of the PDP said that the verdict of the Court of BiH against Milorad Dodik is “legal violence that compromises the legitimacy of the elections” and that the PDP will not give legitimacy to a “imposed political scenario.” It is increasingly likely that Stanivukovic will be part of the opposition bloc that will stand with Dodik.
A political maneuver without legal weight
The announcement of a referendum in this context is interpreted as political pressure and an attempt to mobilize the electorate, and not as a constitutional-legal procedure. In this way, Dodik continues the narrative of the “endangerment of RS” and tries to present the CEC decision as an attack on the entire people, even though it is an individual final verdict.
The billboard in Istocno Sarajevo fits into his strategy of creating an image of a personal confrontation with an “unjust system” and an attempt to present his final conviction as a political process. The message “When the people believe, verdicts fall” openly questions the authority of judicial institutions and sends a signal of political disobedience toward the decisions of the court and election administration.
“Political persecution”
Dodik’s messages and political moves after the final verdict actually clearly show the intention to present this court decision as political persecution, and not as a consequence of breaking the law. Therefore, as is already clear from numerous legal analyses, the announced referendum has no legal foundation and represents a purely political means of pressure, N1 writes.
