KOLJEVIĆ: AFTER THE REFERENDUM, DODIK WILL BE PRESIDENT MORE THAN EVER, AND THE PEOPLE OF SRPSKA GREATER THAN EVER

BELGRADE, August 13 /SRNA/ - Republika Srpska Senator Bogdana Koljević told SRNA that the upcoming referendum in Republika Srpska represents the only legally, politically, and ethically correct and valid response to the final attempts to dismantle the Dayton Agreement by political Sarajevo and the retrograde part of the international community, embodied by Berlin and London.

"Popular sovereignty is the highest form of sovereignty, arising from the finest centuries-old European traditions of thought and action, and the referendum is its most striking expression. A referendum is thus the living expression of the people's will, and popular sovereignty is the supreme foundation of every serious republic," Koljević emphasized. She stated that the announced referendum in Republika Srpska will represent "a political act of the Serbian democratic republic." "In this way, it affirms its political constitutiveness, as well as the fundamental legitimacy and the institutions of the president and all other most relevant institutions," Koljević said. She pointed out that legitimacy is the centerpiece of politics, and that without legitimacy, politics does not exist. Koljević assessed that the planned referendum also demonstrates the extent to which Republika Srpska is genuinely democratic, unlike most countries in contemporary Europe. According to her, in the EU this practice has long been neglected and forgotten, with the exception of neutral Switzerland, where the referendum remains a matter of serious democratic politics, that is, of basic decency and a civilized level of development. "This is by no means accidental, because today we see that all those who long ago spoke of fascism as the final stage of neoliberalism were right," Koljević said. She stressed that, in contrast, Republika Srpska demonstrates freedom in practice, noting that freedom exists only as long as it is lived and continuously exercised. "In this way, Republika Srpska reminds all European peoples of themselves and of the most glorious moments in European history, while simultaneously charting the only possible course for both its own and their future," Koljević emphasized. She stated that in the time of true democracy, which is inevitably coming, there will no longer be political and social quasi-elites serving foreign interests, self-appointed governors without legality, and arbitrary application of selective law. Koljević also underlined the great importance of the fact that everyone, from the Serbian Orthodox Church to the academic community, has already supported holding the announced referendum in Republika Srpska. "In all the calculations of the neocolonizers, one key factor has been overlooked - we are always at our best when times are hardest. The great `yes` that awaits them is only an introduction to an even greater `yes,` because after this referendum Milorad Dodik will be president of the Republic more than ever, as he has always been, with great legality and legitimacy - and the people of Srpska will be greater than ever. And the voice of the people is the highest sanctity, always the voice of God – `Vox populi vox Dei!`" Koljević concluded.