NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SAYS THERE WILL BE NO SNAP ELECTIONS

BELGRADE, AUGUST 29 /SRNA/ – The President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik states that the National Assembly has clearly declared there will be no snap presidential elections in Republika Srpska; it is decision that will be respected.

"You know, elections are usually called at people's demand, at the pressure of the opposition, or if there’s a strike or a government resignation. Elections aren’t something to be taken lightly. Here, in Republika Srpska, it's the Muslims who want to call elections. Of course, they have a group of Serbs who also want those elections. But the National Assembly of Republika Srpska has said there will be no elections," Dodik said in an interview with Politika. When asked what the next step will be, Dodik responded that the upcoming referendum in Republika Srpska would not explicitly address independence but would be "a serious warm-up". Dodik has emphasized that if Sarajevo returns to the original Dayton Peace Agreement, he will reverse all of his moves. "That seems like a fair offer. They want to eliminate me and my team, not realizing that by doing so, they're only strengthening the Serbs even more. We have no intention of giving up," Dodik stated. He says he does not hate Muslims and that he helped save many during the war by evacuating them from conflict zones, but added that the nationalist Muslim politics coming from Sarajevo are a different matter. "Official Sarajevo sees Republika Srpska as an aberration. I think there's no more absurd place than this. We are fighting – and everyone knows this – for the original Dayton Peace Agreement, while the Muslims say the Dayton Peace Agreement is a straitjacket. Then they accuse us of violating the Dayton Peace Agreement, while claiming to defend it. That's an impossible contradiction. I can understand it as a political or propaganda tactic, but in terms of truth – it's impossible," said Dodik.