Public discussion in East Sarajevo: Maintain constitutional continuity with the 1992 Constitution

The first public hearing on the Draft Constitution of the Republic of Srpska was held today in the Assembly of the City of East Sarajevo.

President of the Working Group that assists the Committee on Constitutional Affairs of the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska in drafting the new constitution, Prof. Dr. Vitomir Popovic pointed out that the Constitution of Srpska is the oldest constitution in the area of ​​Dayton Bosnia and Herzegovina, that it was adopted on February 28, 1992, and that it passed numerous changes after that, including numerous amendments imposed by the high representative Wolfgang Petritsch which is why the procedure for adopting a new constitution was initiated.

He pointed out that, since it is the highest legal and political act and the fact that numerous amendments have been issued, it was decided to proceed with the procedure of adopting a new constitution instead of drafting a refined text.

Professor Popovic emphasized that the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska, together with the Committee for Constitutional Affairs, decided to start the procedure of adopting a new constitution of the Republic of Srpska, which aims to maintain constitutional continuity with the Constitution of 1992 and resolve other political, legal, economic and all other issues of importance for the future and survival of the Republic of Srpska.

He pointed out that the current constitution, first of all, did not determine the location of the capital of Srpska, and that the draft constitution stipulates that the capital will be Banja Luka, as the administrative center of the Republic of Srpska, and that East Sarajevo will become the capital with its headquarters in Pale, where Srpska and its first institutions were created.

He emphasized that the task of the Working Group is to collect all opinions, proposals, remarks, and suggestions about the text of the constitution and submit them for consideration to the Committee for Constitutional Affairs, which will refer it to the National Assembly according to the procedure.

"Today we are in East Sarajevo, tomorrow in Trebinje, after that there will be public discussions in Prijedor, Gradiska, Zvornik and Bijeljina, and then in Doboj and Banja Luka," said prof. Popovic and repeated that Srpska has the right to enact a new constitution, to protect and restore its competences in accordance with the acts that are valid both at the level of the Republic of Srpska and BiH.

Working group member Dragan Dakic said that the Republic of Srpska is exercising its democratic capacity through this process.

He emphasized that the Republic of Srpska acts within the framework of its constitutional Dayton competences and that the holding of public hearings and the procedure for adopting a new constitution are in accordance with the existing provisions of the highest legal and political act of the Republic of Srpska.

Member of the Committee for Constitutional Affairs, Damjan Skipina, said that he expects the new constitution to receive a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly.

"That issue is the most important for the Republic of Srpska, and I expect a two-thirds majority and the support of deputies, regardless of which political party they belong to," he said.