The House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PABiH) yesterday continued its regular session, which had been interrupted two days earlier, by resuming discussions on the Draft Resolution condemning attacks by the authorities of the Republika Srpska (RS) entity on the constitutional order of BiH, calling for decisive action by the relevant institutions to protect the constitutional order, preserve peace, and uphold the Dayton Peace Agreement.
One of the proposers, delegate Serif Spago, stated two days ago that delegates from the SDA and the DF had submitted this resolution for parliamentary procedure with the aim of discussing “perhaps one of the most important issues currently in BiH” in the House of Representatives.
He emphasized that “we are witnessing an attack on the constitutional order of BiH, where a lower level of government, the RS entity assembly, is passing laws that prohibit the implementation of laws adopted, among others, by the House of Representatives, that is, the PABiH.”
Delegate Safet Keso (SDA) stated during yesterday‘s discussion that the resolution’s proposers had sought a very balanced and adequate solution to the given situation.
“It must be acknowledged that if it weren’t for this resolution, if we hadn’t written and submitted it together with our colleagues from the DF, we as a parliament would practically have had no reaction to the current situation, which certainly would not be commendable,” said Keso.
He reminded that the proposed resolution highlights that the Court of BiH, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC), and the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) are institutions currently being subjected to illegal decisions and attacks by the RS entity authorities, and that they were established based on laws enacted by this parliamentary assembly and can only be altered here, “which will never happen.”
The proposed resolution also states that the House of Representatives welcomes the Constitutional Court of BiH’s decision to temporarily suspend four disputed laws until a final ruling is made.
One of the points in the proposed resolution states that the House of Representatives calls on the Court of BiH, the Prosecutor’s Office, the HJPC, and SIPA to responsibly, promptly, and fully carry out their legal obligations, which, according to Keso, is indisputable and “needs to be heard and voted on.”
He noted that the resolution reminds all elected and appointed officials at all levels that the PABiH is the only place, the only institution where changes to the Constitution of BiH can be made through the legally prescribed procedure.
“This serves as a reminder to those who in recent days have dared, have had the audacity to engage in such processes,” said Keso.
He added that all lower levels of government are also called upon to strictly adhere to their competencies in accordance with the law.
“In point seven, at the end, we have called upon, that is, the House of Representatives expects the Peace Implementation Council(PIC), the witness countries of the Dayton Peace Agreement, EUFOR, and others to fulfill their obligations arising from the Dayton Peace Agreement and to respond decisively,” said Keso.
Delegate Sabina Cudic (Our Party) stated that during the discussion two days ago, they had heard some statements, one of which was that Serbs are a great nation.
“I truly agree. They absolutely are. Among other things, because I believe there are no great and small nations. But on the other hand, there are great and small people. There are people so small, so small, so small, that they are such cowards that they must hide behind great nations. And when they feel their position is threatened, they are willing, while hiding behind great nations – such as, I repeat, the Serbs – to sacrifice that entire nation, cowardly using it to shield their misdeeds,” said Cudic.
She added that she would not name those individuals because she believes that “unfortunately, we have named them too many times in the past decades.”
“We have been so preoccupied with them that we have forgotten to focus on what we should have been doing all these decades, especially here in these parliamentary seats,” said Cudic.
Delegate Jasmin Emric (NES-For New Generations) stated that the delegates from the Mixed Caucus support the text of the proposed resolution as a form of support for institutional action to defend the constitutional order of our state and its institutions and to ensure peace and stability for all our citizens, wherever they live in our beautiful homeland.
Delegate Milorad Kojic (SNSD) stated that delegate Sabina Cudichad wrongly personified trivial people, “directly implying that this refers to RS President Milorad Dodik, who, according to her, is so trivial that she indirectly mentioned him 12 times.”
“Trivial people are not mentioned that many times; great leaders are mentioned that many times. Milorad Dodik, as she says, hides behind the people, yet he received the support of more than 300.000 citizens of the RS, and that support did not come only from members of the Serbian people but also from members of the Bosniak and Croat peoples, as well as others,” said Kojic.
Delegate Predrag Kojovic (Our Party) responded to his remarks.
“You think that winning the most votes in an election gives legitimacy to overthrow the constitutional order of any country. Hitler won democratic elections twice, and that does not make him any less of a trivial person in history than he actually was. You are telling me that the fact that someone won an election gives them the right to behave the way Milorad Dodik behaves. I am giving you a historical example to show that this is not necessarily the case. And regarding triviality, many people in history are remembered not because they were great leaders but because they were trivial,” said Kojovic.
Chair of the SNSD Caucus, delegate Sanja Vulic, responded to his remarks, addressing House Speaker Denis Zvizdic and suggesting that it was unacceptable for him to allow “the legitimately elected president of the Serbian people to be compared to Hitler.”
“That is unacceptable, and because of this insult, I request a half-hour break so that we can coordinate within the caucus on how to proceed,” said Vulic, after which a break was granted.
After the break, the session of the House of Representatives of the state parliament resumed.
