The President of the National Assembly Dr Nenad Stevandic met today in Banja Luka with the presidents and vice presidents of the assemblies of municipalities and cities in the Republic of Srpska with whom he talked about maintaining the jurisdiction of the Republic of Srpska and its institutions. The following Statement has been adopted at the meeting:
- We firmly stand by the Republic of Srpska and its representatives in the fight to protect the jurisdiction of the Republic of Srpska in accordance with the General Framework Agreement for Peace in BiH and its Annex 4 - the BiH Constitution.
- We call the international community to deny support to Mr Christian Schmidt, who has not been chosen in accordance to the procedure prescribed by Article I, Paragraph 2, Annex 10, the general framework agreement for peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina that does not have the consent of the United Nations Security Council.
- We condemn the Decision of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the amendment of the Rules of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina ("Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina", number 47/23), which deletes Article 39 of the Rules and thereby renders the participation of judges from the Republic of Srpska in its work meaningless.
- We are strongly opposed to turning the property of the Republic of Srpska and the property of local self-government units into state property of BiH by unconstitutional decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH.
- We call on the competent institutions and authorities of BiH and the Republic of Srpska not to undertake activities based on the decisions of Mr Christian Schmidt, the self-proclaimed high representative, and on the unconstitutional decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH, because this would lead to further escalation of political relations in BiH with unforeseeable consequences, and we call on the aforementioned institutions and authorities to wait for a peaceful political resolution of the crisis.
- We express our readiness for the Conference of the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska and the presidents of the assemblies of local self-government units in the Republic of Srpska to meet as necessary, at least once a year, for the purpose of protecting and realizing the rights and duties of the Republic of Srpska and the rights and duties of the local self-government units.
- This Statement will be the basis for the preparation of the declaration, which will be sent for adoption to all assemblies of cities and municipalities of the Republic of Srpska.
Stevandic said at the conference after the meeting that this Statement is the basis for the preparation of the Declaration on the inviolability and protection of Srpska which will be sent for adoption.
He stated that in the framework of the common Statement, they call the international community to deny support to Christian Schmidt, who has not been chosen in accordance with the procedure and does not have the consent of the UN Security Council.
“Because of the illegal and unconstitutional work of the BiH Constitutional Court , we also want to show our goodwill and firm decision to protect our property,” said Stevandic.
He added that the Forum of the presidents of the assemblies of local self-governments will be formed, which will act as organisation, together with the Union of Municipalities and Cities.
According to him, the declaration on the inviolability and protection of the Republic of Srpska and its institutions, constitutional capacity and property will be sent to all municipal and city assemblies for adoption when it is agreed.
"The declaration is a sign that behind the decisions of the National Assembly of Srpska, the President, and the Government are not only personal and political decisions, but that behind those decisions are all citizens and all institutions of Srpska, as well as that it is not a question of the government and the opposition, but a question of our attitude towards our own assets and all prerogatives that Srpska has, constitutional capacity, property, institutions," said Stevandić.
He stated that the most important thing is to protect the will of the citizens of the Republic of Srpska who will elect their officials, and no one will impose it on them from the outside.
The President of the Bijeljina City Assembly Aleksandar Đurđević said that the joint statement sends a clear message that the issue of property concerns every local community and the Republic of Srpska.
"We are all together in this fight for the preservation of the property of the Republic of Srpska, which as such is regulated by the Dayton Peace Agreement," emphasized Đurđević.
Đurđević expressed the expectation that the declaration on the inviolability and protection of the Republic of Srpska will be adopted in all municipalities and cities, and that it will be made clear to everyone who wants to threaten the property of the Republic of Srpska in any way that they will not be allowed to do so.
"The people who live in Srpska are one hundred percent with us, and I think there is a strong legitimacy regarding this struggle that is currently taking place," said Đurđević
