PAJIĆ BAŠTINAC: DODIK IS AND WILL REMAIN THE PRESIDENT OF REPUBLIKA SRPSKA

BANJA LUKA, SEPTEMBER 19 /SRNA/ – The President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, is and will remain the President of Republika Srpska, Jelena Pajić-Baštinac, Secretary General to the President of Srpska, told SRNA.

“The citizens of Republika Srpska gave the mandate to President Milorad Dodik precisely so that he may preserve and advance the status of the Republic and its internal development, as well as to ensure the smooth functioning of institutions,” Pajić-Baštinac said. She noted that the President of the Republic authorized Vice President Davor Pranjić, in addition to himself, to sign decrees, but only with the mandatory consent of President Dodik, which is entirely legal and legitimate. “Republika Srpska has the strength and the means to protect its elected representatives, institutions, as well as dignity and future, from the hostile Court and Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, and to do so by legal means,” the Secretary General to the President of Srpska stressed. She told SRNA that the hostile Court and Prosecutor’s Office of BiH are seeking to block processes and the work of institutions of Republika Srpska in order to weaken the Republic’s international position during current talks on resolving relations in BiH, and that the assessment is that such authorization would prevent and preempt such outcomes. “This act represents a responsible and thoughtful move by Srpska’s institutions, aimed at preventing further political and judicial persecution of the highest officials of Srpska. At a time when indictments are being fabricated and when, through the illegal High Representative and his followers, every decision of Republika Srpska is being criminalized, it is only logical that the institutions take protective measures, one of which is certainly this – according to which Vice President Pranjić may sign decrees, but only after the review and approval of the President of the Republic, Milorad Dodik,” Pajić-Baštinac clarified. She pointed out that Milorad Dodik is the President of the Republic, and that this is not an act of evading responsibility, but a decision to defend the constitutional order of Republika Srpska from those who, like the hostile judicial institutions, constantly attack by unlawful means. “It is clear that the attacks from Sarajevo and from certain Western centers of power are exclusively politically motivated. The highest officials of Srpska are being targeted, and first among them is certainly the leader of the Serb people, who is their greatest obstacle on the path to destroying Srpska because he defends the interests of his people and refuses to accept humiliation,” underlined Pajić-Baštinac.