DODIK: I SUPPORT INITIATIVE FOR REFERENDUM ON THE CONSTITUTION

BANJA LUKA, APRIL 25 /SRNA/ – The President of the SNSD Milorad Dodik welcomed the initiative to hold a referendum on the text of the new Constitution of Republika Srpska, stating that such an act would give greater strength to the most important legal document.

"I welcome the discussion about the new Constitution and support the initiative for holding a referendum. That referendum can give strength to the new document," Dodik said at a press conference in Banja Luka, after the session of the SNSD Presidency. He stated that the political crisis in BiH was caused primarily by the actions of Christian Schmidt, whom he described as illegal and acting outside of institutional frameworks. "The political crisis was not caused by the SNSD, but by Schmidt's efforts and those of others, including what they did regarding the fourth delegate in the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly," Dodik pointed out. He emphasized that the SNSD is capable of managing political processes and stressed that the only way out of the crisis is to abolish imposed solutions and give an opportunity for dialogue. "Our ultimate goal is to bring BiH back within the framework of the Dayton Agreement. We are not ready to make any concessions," Dodik stated. He pointed out that the Constitution is clear and stipulates that all provisions not adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly are null and void. "Only the laws confirmed by the Parliamentary Assembly are in force. We are demanding for the Constitution to be respected," said Dodik. He concluded that Republika Srpska cannot rely on the Constitutional Court of BiH to protect the Constitution. "That is a rogue body functioning as an extension of the Sarajevo political elite," Dodik stated.