KOVAČEVIĆ: NO COURT, THROUGH ANY POLITICAL OR UNCONSTITUTIONAL PROCESS, CAN OVERRIDE THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE

BANJA LUKA, AUGUST 5 /SRNA/ – The SNSD reaffirms its commitment to a free and democratic Republika Srpska in which voters decide who their top representatives are, and no court, through any political or unconstitutional process, can undermine the will of the people, said the party's spokesperson Radovan Kovačević.

Kovačević, who is also a Serb deputy in the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, noted that through an unconstitutional, non-consensual, and illegal process against Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik, one side has attempted to eliminate Srpska from the Dayton Peace Agreement. He explained that the SNSD’s conclusions clarified that Republika Srpska is a signatory party to the Dayton Peace Agreement, and that the Constitution of BiH explicitly states that any changes can only be made through agreement between the two entities – Republika Srpska and the Federation of BiH /FBiH/. “That’s why we are saying that accepting this kind of process would mean accepting the abolition of the Dayton Peace Agreement, and those in the FBiH who are celebrating this aren’t even aware of what they’ve gotten themselves into,” Kovačević told RTRS. He referred to European integration and recent statements by EU officials, who have said the judgment should be accepted. He pointed out that the Head of the EU Delegation to BiH, Luigi Soreca, and certain other European officials like Marta Kos, have claimed the judgment must be respected in order to establish the rule of law. “Yet we have someone outside the Constitution – a foreigner, an individual – imposing laws, even though our Constitution clearly states that only the parliament has the authority to pass laws. Then a prosecutor’s office and a court, which are not defined by the Constitution, implement those laws. For that reason, we announced that SNSD representatives are freezing their contribution to European integration,” Kovačević emphasized. He noted that this decision was not easy for the party, as no step on the path to European integration has ever been taken without SNSD’s involvement. “If you believe you can nullify our right to decide who our president is, and you convict our president for respecting the Constitution, then you clearly have no respect for us at all. The Serb people is a proud people and will respond accordingly to this worst attack in the history of Republika Srpska,” Kovačević stressed. He concluded that the SNSD has once again proven itself to be the most serious, largest, and most responsible state-building political organisation.