KALINIĆ: ASSEMBLY WAS FOUNDATION OF DEFENCE OF SERB PEOPLE

BANJA LUKA, OCTOBER 20 /SRNA/ - The Assembly of the Serb People in BiH was the foundation for protecting the Serb people from yet another tragedy, said a member of the Assembly's first term and former President of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska Dragan Kalinić.

Kalinić recalled that, when the Assembly of the Serb People was being established, he was in the Reformist Party alongside Milorad Dodik. As responsible people, they understood that Serbs needed to defend themselves against being outvoted and prevent a repetition of the tragic fate they had suffered throughout history, and that their place was alongside the Serb Democratic Party /SDS/ deputies.

"We founded the Assembly of the Serb People, which, like the source of a clear river, provided the basis on whose banks the Constitution of Republika Srpska, Republika Srpska itself, its army, police and all other state institutions were established. We did this before the flood of civil war swept across BiH, during which all three peoples paid a heavy price," Kalinić told reporters in Banja Luka.

He said he was looking forward to October 24, when the 35th anniversary of the establishment of the Assembly of the Serb People in BiH would be marked.

"Few peoples in the world can boast that, like us, they built a state from the ground up that has endured for exactly 35 years, despite all the pressure," Kalinić concluded.

Member of the Assembly's first term Stevan Medić said that the establishment of the Assembly of the Serb People in BiH was an important day for Serbs, as it was when the decision was made to create Republika Srpska.

"From then until today, it has been evident that we have succeeded in creating a space and a democratic state where people can live well, thanks to those who held positions of authority," Medić said.

He stressed that he was pleased that Republika Srpska, as a young democratic state, had been led by people who had a vision and knew how to move forward.

"We hope that those who have now been elected to lead Republika Srpska will move more quickly, do better and act more decisively in preserving Republika Srpska," Medić said.

The National Assembly of Republika Srpska, the highest constitutional and legislative body within the governing structure of Republika Srpska and the central institution of its parliamentary system, was established on October 24, 1991, as the Assembly of the Serb People in BiH.

The decision was taken by deputies elected in the autumn 1990 elections.

On the same day, at the inaugural session of the Assembly of the Serb People in BiH, other acts were also adopted. Among them, two were particularly significant politically: the Decision on the Serb People Remaining in the Common State of Yugoslavia and the Decision on Calling and Conducting a Plebiscite of the Serb People in BiH.

On January 9, 1992, deputies of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska adopted the Declaration on the Proclamation of the Republic of the Serb People of BiH. This date is marked as Republika Srpska Day.

On February 28, 1992, the National Assembly adopted the Constitution of Republika Srpska and the Constitutional Law for its Implementation, formally establishing the legal and constitutional status of the Serb people as a state-forming entity.