Leader of the Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) Milorad Dodik said in Banja Luka today that his party will participate in the state-level government only if the high representatives’ previously imposed decisions are annulled, and the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina issue is resolved, excluding foreign judges.
“All the decisions made by this or that good-for-nothing high representatives should be immediately declared null and void within the parliamentary procedure and annul the practice produced by these decisions, because they cannot remain in the legal system. These are not laws, but they destroy the constitutional order of BiH,” Dodik said at the press conference following the session of the SNSD Presidency.
He added that SNSD will seek a review of the decisions imposed by high representatives, later confirmed by the state parliament, as well as the consequences of their implementation. According to him, these decisions were made under very radical circumstances of coercion, which are not part of a democratic atmosphere.
Dodik emphasized that BiH “cannot move forward without examining what happened in the past,” adding that the Constitutional Court of BiH clearly defines the jurisdictions of the state and the entities.
According to him, before the formation of the new Council of the Ministers of BiH, it is necessary to resolve the matter of the Constitutional Court of BiH by adopting a law that would regulate its functioning. Dodik stated that this judicial institution should consist of three Serbian, three Bosniak, and three Croatian judges, alongside a mechanism to protect the vital national interests of the constituent peoples to prevent the outvoting of judges from Republika Srpska.
This proposal entails the exclusion of foreign judges from the Constitutional Court of BiH. This institution currently comprises four judges elected by the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH – two of Bosniak and two of Croatian nationality; two Serbian judges elected by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska; and three judges elected by the President of the European Court of Human Rights after consultations with the Presidency of BiH.
“If someone wants to see SNSD in the government in BiH, they will see us only if the BiH Constitutional Court is reformed,” Dodik emphasized.
Speaking about the European path of BiH, he assessed that it has always been “aimed at the dismantling of Republika Srpska, an anti-Serb and anti-RS path.” He emphasized that the representatives of Republika Srpska are ready to talk with the European officials about the European path of BiH, but that they will not allow the degradation of that entity.
Speaking about the formation of the parliamentary majority at the state level, Dodik said that cooperation with the Croatian Democratic Community BiH (HDZ BiH) remains the unquestionable axis of SNSD’s future actions. When it comes to Bosniak parties that could participate in the government, he said that there is no place in that combination for the Party for BiH (SBiH).
“We will understand everything that Bosniaks want in terms of the need to consolidate their structure, but we will clearly state that no partnership is possible with a structure that includes the Party for BiH,” Dodik emphasized.
When it comes to Republika Srpska, he said that the coalition gathered around SNSD holds a two-thirds majority at the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, which, as he assessed, opens up the possibility for potential constitutional changes within that entity.
