KARAN: GOAL OF CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL VIOLENCE AGAINST SRPSKA IS UNITARY BiH

BIJELJINA, OCTOBER 28 /SRNA/ – The Minister of Scientific and Technological Development and Higher Education of Republika Srpska Siniša Karan stated, during a lecture to students in Bijeljina this evening, that the constitutional and legal violence against Republika Srpska, ongoing for 30 years, has only one goal – the unitarization of BiH.

"They thought that, in an anti-Dayton manner, with 917 decisions of the High Representatives by which they stripped away the competences of Republika Srpska, and without any formal change to the Constitution, they could defeat the Dayton BiH. The international community is aware of the unconstitutionality of those decisions, they cannot be permanent or remain in force," Karan said. During the lecture entitled "The Constitutional and Legal Position of Repubika Srpska", held at the Faculty of Education in Bijeljina, Karan emphasized that BiH is a classic federal state with pronounced confederal elements, and that it cannot be transformed into a unitary state without a formal constitutional amendments. Karan added that no state can be created or dissolved without the will of the people, stressing the importance of the division of competences, parity in the composition of institutions, and consensus within BiH. "If any of these elements are tampered with in any federation, that federation would collapse," Karan warned. According to Karan, the social problems in Repubika Srpska and BiH, which spill over into political and economic issues, stem from foreign influences and attempts at tutelage over this area. "Happy are the nations that have their own state," Karan said. Responding to a statement by demographer Stevo Pašalić that in the Federation of BiH there are initiatives to introduce proportional representation based on population numbers, ignoring the principle of constituent peoples, Karan highlighted the importance of parity rather than numbers. "Numerical strength is a concept tied to a unitary state, not a federal one. That’s a trap. Parity is what holds BiH together," Karan remarked.