The Bosnian spring is threatening to heat up on the political scene. In early April, a law could come into force in Republika Srpska (RS) that provides for the transfer of state property to RS, although this is clearly contrary to the Constitution. The Constitutional Court stated that unresolved issues of state property – for example, barracks, but also forests – must be resolved by the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PABiH). Accordingly, the RS parliament has no right to simply annex assets.
Specifically, it is the law on “immovable property”, which was adopted by the National Assembly of RS (NARS) on February 10th. Although Bosniak representatives vetoed the law, the RS Constitutional Court ruled it “unacceptable.” As the BiH Constitutional Court is currently completely overburdened, it is likely that months will pass before the court orders that law enforcement must be halted until the constitutionality of the law is clarified.
Using the legal gray zone
In the meantime, however, the RS administration may already be registering state property as RS property. And that could have far-reaching consequences. Because that would create a legal gray zone, which is obviously in the interest of the political elites of RS. Facts must be created to make the turnaround as difficult as possible. The Law on “Immovable Property” is just one of the numerous legal acts initiated by the RS Parliament, and all of them serve to implement the long-term secessionist intentions of the nationalist SNSD party under its leader Milorad Dodik.
High Judicial and Prosecution Council (HJPC)
The RS parliament, under the auspices of the SNSD, which has been threatening to destroy the state of BiH for years – which was the war goal of the nationalists in the aggression on BiH 1992-1995 – announced on December 10th a series of political measures aimed at secession.
Among them is the law on the creation of a special RS HJPC, which undermines the state judicial council. The common judiciary has been bothering Dodik for years.
Political influence on legal institutions
The scope of the legislative changes announced by RS in December covers a wide range of state laws. It is already evident that veto opportunities in the RS are virtually ineffective due to the political influence of nationalists in the RS Constitutional Court. However, if the laws are not stopped, there will be legal chaos in BiH, erosion of state structures, which will contribute to further political destabilization.
Overburdened Constitutional Court
Probably the biggest challenge in this regard is the currently overburdened Constitutional Court. For example, the Constitutional Court has not yet ruled on a legal act in the RS, according to which the law against denial of war crimes and glorification of war criminals should not be applied. For now, it is only a matter of suspending the application of this legal act.
Dangerous laws for the state
On November 24th, the Constitutional Court was asked to review a legal act in RS. But the matter is still not on the agenda of the Constitutional Court. This shows that all other laws on secession dangerous for the state of BiH will not be revised so quickly.
Dodik-led nationalists, backed by Serbia and the Kremlin, also have allies within BiH. Those allies are Dragan Covic’s Croatian Nationalist Party HDZ. The clearly pro-Russian stance of Dodik and Covic was recently evident at a session of the second house of BiH’s parliament, the House of Peoples. Both nationalists opposed the demand that BiH “fully harmonize its policies, measures, and attitudes with the official European Union (EU) positions on the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine.” Dodik and Covic thus voted against sanctions against Russia and against the EU’s position.
Croatia is interfering in the affairs of the neighboring country
Covic, on the other hand, received great support from neighboring Croatia, as did Dodik from Serbia. The sister party HDZ is lobbying from Croatia to the EU institutions to change the Election Law so that HDZ can expand its position of government in BiH. Above all, it wants to ensure that in the future only an HDZ representative can sit as a Croat in the state presidency. The constitution simply stipulates that someone from the “Croatian people” should take one of the three seats. Currently, that person is a center-left politician and non-nationalist Zeljko Komsic. The three presidents do not represent ethnic groups in BiH; they have only national attributes. On the other hand, ethnic groups are represented in the House of Peoples.
E.Dz.
Source: Avaz
