STEVANDIĆ: BiH CONSTITUTIONAL COURT HAS DECLARED WAR ON SRPSKA

BANJA LUKA, SEPTEMBER 2 /SRNA/ - Speaker of the Republika Srpska National Assembly Nenad Stevandić said after a session of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs that, by agreeing to problematize the veto exercised by the Serb member of the BiH Presidency, the BiH Constitutional Court had declared war on Republika Srpska.

“There would be nothing contentious if there had previously been Constitutional Court decisions on such matters. From the Dayton Agreement to the present day, the BiH Constitutional Court has never called the issue of the veto into question. This is not merely a precedent and an attempt to undermine the Constitution to the detriment of one entity,” Stevandić stressed. He said that one of the reasons for this was hatred, as evidenced by the numerous complaints filed over expressions of condolence following the death of General Ratko Mladić. “We believe there may be support for this from abroad, but we are certain that such support did not come from the United States, Russia or China,” Stevandić said. Asked by reporters whether such appeals would be possible if there were a law governing the BiH Constitutional Court, Stevandić said that such experiments would never be carried out. “We will not succumb to pressure and will wait for the situation to calm down. If the BiH Constitutional Court does not dismiss this appeal, everything will be clear to us, and we will have to change our political discourse as well. We are not afraid of anyone, but we want to keep time for an agreement,” Stevandić stressed. A session of the Republika Srpska National Assembly’s Committee on Constitutional Affairs was held today to respond to the BiH Constitutional Court regarding a request submitted by BiH Presidency Chairman Denis Bećirović. Bećirović’s request concerns the resolution of a dispute with Serb member of the BiH Presidency Željka Cvijanović and the Republika Srpska National Assembly over a statement declaring the BiH Presidency’s decision to appoint members of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, adopted without consensus, highly detrimental to the vital interests of Republika Srpska, as well as the Assembly’s decision confirming the statement made by the Serb member of the BiH Presidency on July 7.