In the summer of this year, it will be three years since the arrival of Christian Schmidt to the position of high representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). All this time, the president of the Republika Srpska (RS) entity, Milorad Dodik, did not accept Schmidt as a high representative, but despite the verbal refusal, he very much accepted many of the rules of the Office of the High Representative (OHR).
Despite the fact that Dodik is on trial in the Court of BiH for disobeying the decisions of the High Representative and despite disparaging the function of the OHR, constrained by sanctions, blocking of accounts, the adoption of the entity election law, the SNSD leader without much doubt gives signs of compliance with Schmidt’s decisions.
Although he claimed that in case the high representative imposes technical changes to the electoral law, he will not participate in the elections according to that law, the situation on the ground is somewhat different. The fact is that the National Assembly of the RS (NARS) passed the Entity Election Law, but it has not yet entered into force because the Bosniak Caucusvetoed the protection of vital interests before the Council of Peoples of the Entity.
After the decision in that body, the law should reach the Constitutional Court of the RS. At the moment, that procedure is Dodik’s exit ticket in front of his electorate, through which he tells that he cannot organize elections according to the entity election law because it has not come into force, and when the whole process is finished it will probably be too late. Therefore, Dodik will go to the elections according to Schmidt’s law.
However, if Dodik was really so bold as to implement his earlier threats with the Entity Election Law, he would not have paid so much attention to deadlines. Because, hypothetically, Dodik could define in the entity election law when it is enough to call elections, when and in what way they should be held.
Such messages from Dodik indicate that the adoption of the Entity Election Law was a political trick that was supposed to serve to strengthen the negotiating position for some other issues. Sanctions and the financial situation show that Dodik is in big trouble and that he has no dilemma when he should go to the elections, as well as that he does not have the courage to carry out his threats, Klix.ba writes.
E.Dz.
