The President of the Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, announced today that the decisions and laws regarding the ban on the activities of state institutions in the entity of Republika Srpska will be fully implemented, where, as he stated, “there is no activity of the Court of BiH, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, SIPA and the HJPC”.
“The Republika Srpska is closely monitoring the implementation of the law and I must say that there are no visible or secret operations of these bodies. The Court of BiH, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, SIPA and the HJPC are not provided for by the Constitution of BiH and must disappear from the territory of Republika Srpska. We must implement these laws”, Dodik said at a press conference in Banja Luka.
Dodik reiterated his position that the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina “has long since outgrown its constitutional and legal capacities”.
“The Constitutional Court of BiH is neither constitutional nor legal. There are suspicious judges who do not have the right to make decisions. The Presidency was not consulted for the appointment of three judges, and the norm that judges can be part of the court up to the age of 70 has also been violated”, Dodik pointed out.
He says that any decisions of such a court, even in that capacity, are unconstitutional.
“We cannot allow as a people to change the Constitution by rules. The Constitution of BiH is an inviolable norm. We know all this and we constantly repeat it. Republika Srpska will remain firmly in power with the laws passed by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska,” said Dodik.
He says that the Constitutional Court of BiH and the judges “are misrepresenting themselves and that it is an institution that has lost its legitimacy.”
“Such decisions cannot be accepted and should be rejected,” said Dodik.
The President of Republika Srpska also said that the Republika Srpska Election Commission will be formed next month. Dodik announced that the Election Law, which, as he states, was previously adopted by the National Assembly of RS, will be implemented in this BiH entity.
“We will prepare by the fall, Republika Srpska will have its own election commission that will call elections for the president and parliament of Republika Srpska. We do not dispute the fact that the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina will conduct elections for members of the Presidency and for representatives in the House of Representatives. This should be done by the CEC. And all elections at the entity level will be conducted by the RS Election Commission,” Dodik said.
Republika Srpska is entering this week with regular activities, showing that it can fulfill its obligations, the situation is stable and there are no visible movements that could threaten its security, Dodik said.
“Salaries are being paid regularly. Republika Srpska controls its financial system and there are no challenges that could jeopardize the financing of RS itself,” Dodik said at a press conference in Banja Luka.
The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has issued an arrest warrant for Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik, Speaker of the RS National Assembly Nenad Stevandić and Prime Minister of RS Radovan Višković, on suspicion of attacking the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
On March 5, Milorad Dodik signed decrees promulgating laws adopted at a special session of the RS National Assembly. One of the laws prohibits the operation of the Court and Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and SIPA in the territory of Republika Srpska.
The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina subsequently temporarily suspended these laws.
