The House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina today concluded its debate and expressed its opinion on the Draft Resolution condemning the attack by the authorities of the entity Republika Srpska on the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina, calling for decisive action by the competent institutions to protect the constitutional order, preserve peace and respect the Dayton Peace Agreement.
The proposed resolution received a general, but not an entity, majority of votes, so it will be sent to the Collegium of the House for approval. If the Collegium does not reach an agreement on it, the deputies will vote on it in a second round of voting at one of the following sessions.
Of the 37 deputies present, 23 deputies voted “for” the proposed resolution, 12 were “against”, and two deputies abstained.
The proposers of this resolution are the deputies of the Party of Democratic Action: Šerif Špago, Edin Ramić, Safet Kešo, Midhat Čaušević, Nermin Mandra, Denijal Tulumović, Amor Mašović, Šemsudin Dedić and the Democratic Front Milan Dunović, Vlatko Glavaš and Zlatan Begić.
One of the proposers, deputy Šerif Špago, said that the deputies of the SDA and the Democratic Front submitted this resolution for the procedure, with the aim of discussing in the House of Representatives “perhaps one of the most important issues currently in Bosnia and Herzegovina”.
He pointed out that “we have an attack on the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina, when a lower level of government, the Assembly of the RS entity, passes laws that prohibit the implementation of laws that were, among other things, passed by the House of Representatives, that is, the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH”.
Deputy Safet Kešo (SDA) said that the proposers of the resolution sought an adequate solution to the given situation in a very balanced way.
He recalled that the proposed resolution emphasizes that the Court of BiH, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, the HJPC, SIPA, institutions that have been exposed to illegal decisions and attacks by the RS entity authorities these days, were formed on the basis of laws in this parliamentary assembly and that only here can laws be changed that could potentially bring them into question, “which will never happen”.
The proposed resolution also states that the House of Representatives welcomes the decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH, which temporarily suspends, until a final resolution, four disputed laws.
One of the points of the proposed resolution states that the House of Representatives requests the Court of BiH, the Prosecutor’s Office, the HJPC and SIPA to responsibly, timely and fully fulfill their legal obligations, which, says Kešo, is indisputable and “should be heard and voted for”.
He stated that the resolution reminds all elected and appointed persons at all levels that the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH is the only place, the only institution where the Constitution of BiH can be amended in accordance with the procedure prescribed by law.
He added that all lower levels of government are also called upon to adhere to their responsibilities strictly in accordance with the law.
“In point seven, at the end, we have called, or rather the House of Representatives expects the Peace Implementation Council, the witness states of the Dayton Peace Agreement, EUFOR, etc., to fulfill their obligations arising from the Dayton Peace Agreement, and to react decisively,” Kešo stated.
After voting on the proposed resolution, the deputies also considered the remaining few items on the agenda. After the half-hour break, they will declare their positions on all the items on the agenda that they considered yesterday and today.
