An expert discussion on the Draft Constitution of the Republic of Srpska was held in the organization of ANURS

The President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska, Dr. Nenad Stevandic, said that the sovereignty of the Republic of Srpska is best protected by the Constitution.

According to him, the adoption of the new constitution has a lot of support from the civil sector, student organizations, and associations stemming from the Patriotic War.

"When it comes to the adoption of the new constitution of the Republic of Srpska, the Republic of Srpska must regulate what modern constitutions regulate, and that is even digital property, which was unknown 20 years ago and which high representatives did not take into account," he said at the expert discussion on the draft of the new constitution, which was organized by the Academy of Sciences and Arts of the Republic of Srpska.

He pointed out that in view of the frequent attacks on the property, sovereignty and institutions of the Republic of Srpska are best protected by the Constitution, as it was created by the adoption of the Constitution in 1991.

President of the Working Group for the Drafting of the New Constitution of the Republic of Srpska, Prof. Dr. Vitomir Popovic said that Srpska is moving in the direction of adopting a new constitution because it is high time to protect its national interest.

Popovic said that the original competences established by the Dayton Peace Agreement were not disputed, but that they were then imposed by the adoption of the Bonn Powers of high representatives.

"Thus, a significant part of those institutions that were exclusively under the jurisdiction of the Republic of Srpska found themselves under the jurisdiction of joint institutions without the existence of a foothold in the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Here, I am primarily referring to the Army of Srpska, which was under the jurisdiction of the Republic until 1999 or the beginning of 2000, and at that time we discussed at the Constitutional Court the initiative of Alija Izetbegovic, who considered that the Army belongs, as he said, to the state," Popovic stressed.

He explained that after all the suggestions and proposals have been presented during the public discussions, the Working Group will make a part that it considers important that should be included in the new text of the constitution, which will be forwarded to the Committee for Constitutional Affairs of the National Assembly, which will engage a special commission that deals with writing the text and will continue to adopt it.

Popovic says that at the past public discussions on the Draft Constitution, there were proposals to call East Sarajevo the administrative center and to make the capital Pale, while in Trebinje they proposed that the administrative center should be in Trebinje.

The President of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of the Republic of Srpska Rajko Kuzmanovic said today that the public debate on the Draft Constitution of the Republic of Srpska should show that the constitution is an act of the Serbian people and the Republic, not of foreign individuals, and that it is in accordance with the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Kuzmanovic said that the constitution reflects the state of every democracy and society, and that a new constitution is adopted when the existing one exceeds the limit of 50 percent changes.

"The Constitution of the Republic of Srpska has been changed about 110 times, and those changes were most often caused by the actions of the so-called high representatives," said Kuzmanovic.

At a Special Session on March 13, the National Assembly adopted a decision on the adoption of the Draft Constitution of Srpska, which was put to a public discussion by the Parliament's Conclusion, which will be implemented within 30 days.