Public Discussion on the Draft Constitution in Doboj: Great support for the new Constitution of Srpska, a referendum possible

The public discussion on the Draft Constitution of the Republic of Srpska, the seventh one, was held today in the Doboj City Assembly.

The President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska, Dr. Nenad Stevandic, who attended the public discussion, said that he was honored that this process was taking place within the legal deadline set by the National Assembly, and that, summing up what was heard at the public discussions, he was very pleased with the great support in the efforts to adopt a new constitution of the Republic of Srpska.

"At the same time, we have also seen statements from those who do not attend public hearings, and who comment on them from a political milieu, whether from the opposition or some other sector. We are always ready to check what people think in a referendum. Suppose they believe that the decision in the National Assembly on changes to the Constitution is the result of a political moment. In that case, we can always check it with the people and hold a referendum as an alternative," said President Stevandic.

The President of the Working Group that assists the Committee on Constitutional Affairs of the National Assembly in the preparation and drafting of the new constitution, Prof. Dr. Vitomir Popovic, stated that he was satisfied with the great interest shown in the public discussions held in all the cities.

He explained that the Working Group is working on the text of the Draft Constitution and that its task is more of a technical nature, namely to provide proposals and suggestions on the text of the Draft Constitution and send them to the Committee for Constitutional Affairs of the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska.

“After that, together with the Committee, we need to come up with a final version of the text of the new constitution, which would be adopted either by the National Assembly or, as the President said, would be adopted through a referendum,” said Popovic.

He emphasized that the Constitution of February 1992 is the basis for the adoption of the new Constitution.

"For us, the Constitution of February 1992 is the basis for adopting a new constitution. We have never renounced it, despite the imposition of numerous amendments by high-ranking representatives, particularly Wolfgang Petritsch, who held the position from 1999 to 2002, and subsequently Paddy Ashdown, from 2002 to 2006. They made a number of interventions in the Constitution and significantly changed the internal structure and influenced the legislation that stems from the Constitution as the highest legal and political act. Since we currently have about 114 amendments to the Constitution, and since it is not customary in legal procedure to pass a purified text of the Constitution, we have begun to adopt a new constitution," said Prof. Popovic.

He emphasized that the basis for the creation of the new constitution are constitutional solutions from 1992, respecting all United Nations standards and the European Convention on human rights and freedoms.

“I want to indicate only two or three things which are not, in my opinion, in the sphere of human rights and freedoms.  These are questions related to defining the capital city of the Republic of Srpska and the capital. The new Constitution foresees that the new capital should be Banja Luka and that the capital should be in East Sarajevo, in Pale”, said Popovic.

He added when European standards are in question and the protection of human rights, all citizens of Srpska should be equal in terms of electing and being elected.

“Significant part of the powers imposed by the High Representatives should be deleted from the new constitution. The High Representatives did not have the right to do this even under the 1997 Bonn Mandate, because the Bonn Mandate is an act of political nature, and the Dayton Peace Accords are an act of international law. Therefore, it is an international treaty and its norms are binding, unlike political acts that have no legal significance,” said Popovic.

He pointed out that a significant novelty also applies to the Council of Peoples of the Republic of Srpska, which was not provided for by the 1992 Constitution, but was imposed by Wolfgang Petritsch.

“It is not a disputed fact that it was possible to form a commission that would, following international standards in the field of human rights, take care of the protection of vital national interests, but it could not be any other house besides the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska. Especially, it could not be allowed for two or three individuals to block laws passed by the National Assembly. In addition, 17 years have passed since Petritsch imposed those amendments, we still do not have a Council of Peoples at the level of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and we swear by equality and constituency,” emphasized Prof. Popovic.

He added that certain solutions are also being worked on regarding the return of the seized competencies.

“You know that the high representatives have intervened to the greatest extent in the legislation of the Republic of Srpska. First of all, I am thinking of the Court of BiH, which has lost a whole range of its powers and competencies, that is, it has lost what was the meaning of its establishment. Since the Dayton Peace Agreement stipulated that disputes between the entities would be resolved based on arbitration following Annex 5 to the agreement, the Republic of Srpska accepted the establishment of the Court of BiH, but not with such competencies, not with such powers and abuse of rights,” said Popovic.

He emphasized that the Republic of Srpska has every right to review and put back where it belongs, everything that has been imposed and has not yielded the expected results.

"That is our task, and we will work on it," Popovic concluded.