AMIDŽIĆ: WE WILL KEEP THE RIGHT TO DECIDE OUR FATE

BANJA LUKA, AUGUST 4 /SRNA/ - The SNSD Secretary-General Srđan Amidžić called on all parties with a Serb identity to unite around the Serb national interest and the formation of a government of national unity, stating that the events concerning the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, are not just an SNSD issue, but concern every individual living in Srpska and their desire to keep the right to decide their fate.

“And if someone feels that Sarajevo is closer to their heart than Banja Luka, they should say so,” Amidžić emphasized at a press conference following the SNSD Main Board meeting.

He stated that the SNSD Main Board demonstrated the party’s principled stance that officials in BiH or Republika Srpska should be elected exclusively by the citizens who live here, and not have such decisions made from the outside.

“It is not normal to say that a man elected by the people is no longer the president, and to annul the will of hundreds of thousands of people. We cannot accept that,” Amidžić emphasized, noting that the SNSD demonstrated its principles in the recent local elections by congratulating winning candidates from other parties.

He pointed out that under no circumstances should it be acceptable for a Serb to end up in prison simply for saying that something in BiH is not right.

“We are calling for the formation of a government of national unity, and it’s not a problem if someone from the opposition takes on some of the key roles within it. Let’s talk about such a government and provide a strong and unified response from Republika Srpska to these attacks. If you’re not willing to do that, then I have the right to say that you have betrayed the interests of the Serb people and that you’ve agreed to work against Srpska’s interests under rules defined by Sarajevo,” Amidžić said.

He emphasized that it is important for people in Sarajevo and elsewhere to see that Serbs cannot accept what is happening to the President of Republika Srpska.

Amidžić said that it is precisely because of such matters that he wants to build an even more powerful SNSD, because he is deeply hurt by the injustice inflicted on Republika Srpska.

Today, the SNSD firmly rejected the verdict against the President of Republika Srpska, emphasizing that at a time when political silencing is being forcibly imposed, it will stand even more strongly and clearly behind its president, Milorad Dodik, according to the conclusions unanimously adopted by the Main Board as proposed by the Presidency.

In one of its conclusions, the SNSD called on all parliamentary political parties and other actors in public life in Republika Srpska to form a government of national unity, as well as to act jointly at the level of BiH’s joint institutions, and to reject decision-making within them until the position of Republika Srpska as defined by the BiH Constitution is restored.

The SNSD believes that, despite the existing and legitimate political differences, it is high time a broad socio-political consensus were reached among all political actors in Republika Srpska.

According to the conclusions, it is necessary to clearly, unequivocally, and jointly reject the idea that anyone other than the citizens of Republika Srpska can decide, through free and democratic elections, who the President of Republika Srpska, the Serb member of the Presidency of BiH, the National Assembly members, or the representatives of Republika Srpska in the joint institutions of BiH are.