DRAGIŠIĆ: BOSNIAKS PERSISTENTLY ABUSE VETO

BANJA LUKA, JULY 30 /SRNA/ – Marinko Dragišić, a deputy in the Serb People Caucus of the Republika Srpska Council of Peoples, told SRNA that Bosniaks in the Council have for years been abusing the vital national interests protection mechanism, which is evident in the case of the Bosniak veto on the Law on Amendments to the Law on Police and Internal Affairs that provides for the formation of reserve police force in Republika Srpska.

"There have been almost fifteen such Bosniak vetoes during my time here, hardly any were justified. I believe this is also an abuse, because many countries in the region and beyond have reserve police forces. They are activated only in cases of natural disasters, large public gatherings, and similar situations," Dragišić explained.

He noted that his Bosniak colleagues in the Council apologized for the use of a lowercase "s" in the word "Srpska," which appeared in numerous instances in the proposal to initiate the protection of vital national interests of the Bosniak people concerning the afore-mentioned law.

"They said it was a mistake. However, in that first version of the veto decision, in ten places the word `Republika` was capitalized, while `Srpska` was written with a lowercase letter," Dragišić said.

He emphasized that he responded to this together with his colleague from the Serb People Caucus Ljubiša Krunić, and that they asked the Bosniak deputies whether this was a mistake or a deliberate provocation.

"The author of the entire text is Dževad Mahmutović, a deputy of the Bosniak People Caucus in the Council. According to his statement, it was a mistake, but it still lingered in the air. I asked whether this was directed against Serbs and Srpska, considering it a violation of my own vital national interest. He said it was a printing error, something he photocopied and copy-pasted. In the end, he just kept making excuses," Dragišić stated.

The Council of Peoples of Republika Srpska did not reach agreement today regarding the initiation of the procedure for the protection of the vital national interest of the Bosniak people concerning the Law on Amendments to the Law on Police and Internal Affairs. The matter has been referred to the Joint Commission of the National Assembly and the Council of Peoples of Republika Srpska.

The Law on Amendments to the Law on Police and Internal Affairs aims to establish the formal legal framework for the creation of a reserve police force to enhance public safety, particularly during emergency situations caused by humanitarian crises.