For years, Croatian politics has obstructed the election of judges to the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH)Constitutional Court with the aim of obtaining political concessions. When they did not get them from Sarajevo, the Office of the High Representative (OHR) stepped in, imposing a new FBiH Constitution. Today, Milorad Dodik is taking the same path, supported by the politics of the international community.
If Sarajevo will not give in, there are those who will. It is precisely for this reason that the National Assembly of Republika Srpska (NARS) passed a decision in April calling on the judge of the Constitutional Court of BiH Zlatko Knezevic to leave this institution, which he did, under enormous pressure from the authorities.
His early retirement will not happen before winter, but it is a move that will inevitably slow down the work of the Constitutional Court, which without two judges from the RS can only hold plenary sessions.
When Dodik can no longer block the work of the Constitutional Court, he tries to delegitimize it by not having judges from RS present in it.
Slowing down the work of the Constitutional Court is only a direct and immediate consequence. We can undoubtedly expect that the appointment of judges from the RS to the Constitutional Court will be conditioned by Dodik’s fulfillment of some of the demands he openly and daily makes regarding the Constitutional Court or some other issue. It is expected that in addition to the departure of foreign judges, Dodik will request a change in the voting method in the Constitutional Court of BiH.
“The National Assembly adopted a conclusion in which we called on a judge from RS to withdraw from the Constitutional Court of BiH, which acts in an anti-Dayton way, and we proposed the adoption of a new law on the Constitutional Court of BiH in which there would be no foreigners,” Dodik said last week.
On the occasion of the latest events, OHR issued a statement in which it was said that Knezevic was exposed to “unacceptable” pressure from “irresponsible politicians”. Also, the high representative called on the deputies in the NARS to stop the campaign of pressure on Judge Knezevic and the Court and to fulfill their obligation to respect the Constitution of BiH.
It was Christian Schmidt, by confronting HDZ’s policy with the decision to impose changes to the Constitution of FBiH and the Electoral Law of BiH, rewarding long-term blockades of the election of judges to the Constitutional Court of FBiH, instead of sanctioning them, who justified every step taken and future steps taken by the NARS.
Condemnations, appeals and calls of the OHR do not change the political reality that the Constitutional Court of BiH cannot be filled without the will of the ruling majority in the RS. With its policy, the OHR legitimized any future blockade, because in the end the one who blocks, regardless of public condemnations, gets more than he had before.
If Dragan Covic received concessions behind closed doors, later disclosed by Schmidt’s decision, why would Dodik expect anything less?
After the last decision by Schmidt, which suspended the FBiH Constitution for 24 hours, i.e. replaced the signature of FBiH Vice President Refik Lendo when appointing the Government of the FBiH, the authority and strength of Bosniak or civil parties in the eyes of HDZ and SNSD representatives is non-existent.
In their vision, the OHR not only formally protects the institutions of BiH, but also negotiates on behalf of the pro-Bosnian parties, because if the OHR can substitute the signature of Lendo, it can also determine what is the true measure of the political demands of the pro-Bosnian parties.
It is precisely for this reason that Dodik can optimistically expect the outcome of the “battle” for the Constitutional Court of BiH, Klix.ba reports.
E.Dz.
