DODIK: SRPSKA MUST NOT ACCEPT LAWS PROPOSED BY THE OPPOSITION - THIS WOULD BE BETRAYAL AND THEIR GREATEST POLITICAL FAILURE

BANJA LUKA, DECEMBER 22 /SRNA/ - The proposed laws on the Court of BiH and the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council /HJPC/, promoted by the opposition from Republika Srpska - the SDS, PDP and Nebojša Vukanović - under the guise of European reforms, represent a unitarist act in BiH, a direct attack on Republika Srpska, an open betrayal of its interests and a shameless alignment with political Sarajevo and foreign mentors, primarily Christian Schmidt, warned SNSD leader Milorad Dodik.

Dodik said that these laws, proposed by the SDS, PDP and Vukanović, who are in opposition in Republika Srpska, constitute an act of political misery, capitulation and betrayal, rather than any reform, as they falsely present it in Federation media.

"Such behaviour by the opposition represents servile capitulation, submission, and an attempt to turn the BiH judiciary into a weapon against Republika Srpska and its institutions," Dodik told SRNA when asked to comment on the proposed laws, which were submitted by the opposition from Republika Srpska and are on the agenda of an urgent session of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH.

He stressed that everyone, including the opposition, knows very well that the Court of BiH and the HJPC have for years been political instruments, selectively and permanently directed against Republika Srpska, yet they nevertheless consciously accept - and even propose - granting them even greater powers.

"It is particularly shameful that the SDS, PDP and others from the opposition in Republika Srpska agree for decisions on these laws to be made without the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, without the consent of the Government of Republika Srpska and in violation of the Constitution. In doing so, they clearly show that applause from Sarajevo and embassies matters more to them than the interests of the people who elected them," Dodik said.

He added that the SDS, PDP and other opposition representatives from Republika Srpska are deliberately bypassing the National Assembly, the Government and constitutional institutions because approval from Sarajevo and foreign embassies is more important to them than the will of the citizens of Srpska, stressing that this is no longer a difference of political opinion but a political deception of voters.

Dodik assessed that reducing such a crucial law to the issue of its seat can only be done by dilettantes.

"For us, it is important that the content and competencies are constitutional and in the interest of Republika Srpska, and only then the seat. It is important that the seat be as far away from Sarajevo as possible, and I have no objection if it is in Pale, or even Rogatica, Bijeljina or Prijedor. The farther from Sarajevo, the better for everyone," Dodik said.

According to him, this is not a fight for the rule of law, but the sale of Republika Srpska in instalments, because whoever votes for these laws today votes for the transfer of competencies, and tomorrow for the abolition of Republika Srpska itself.

Citizens should clearly know, Dodik stressed, that those who support these laws support the weakening of Srpska, and that this will remain recorded not as reform, as falsely presented, but as the most blatant example of political obedience and lack of backbone in the history of the opposition.

"Republika Srpska must not and will not accept such laws, and the responsibility of those pushing them will remain recorded as the deepest political failure of the opposition. These laws were written under the dictate of Sarajevo, certain embassies and, of course, Christian Schmidt, and they reflect a policy of obedience rather than responsibility among opposition representatives in Sarajevo," Dodik said.

He urged the people of Republika Srpska to remember well the proposers of both draft laws - MPs from the SDS, PDP and For Justice and Order caucuses: Darko Babalj, Branislav Borenović, Mira Pekić, Nenad Grković and Mladen Bosić - stating that their betrayal of Republika Srpska is definitive and irreparable in the near future.

An urgent session of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH is scheduled for today, with the agenda including the proposed amendments to the Law on the Court of BiH and the proposed Law on the HJPC of BiH.