KALINIĆ: NEW CONSTITUTION SHOULD RESTORE EVERYTHING RECOGNIZED TO REPUBLIKA SRPSKA UNDER DAYTON

BANJA LUKA, OCTOBER 23 /SRNA/ - Former President of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska Dragan Kalinić has said that conditions have been created for the adoption of a new Constitution of Republika Srpska, which should incorporate everything that was recognized to it under the Dayton Peace Agreement.

"What was recognized to us in Dayton at the moment the agreement was signed should once again be included in the new Constitution," Kalinić said while appearing on a new episode of the podcast of the Republika Srpska Media System - SRNA.

He noted that the Constitution of Republika Srpska had been amended through interventions by high representatives and that the current text differed considerably from the original, adopted on February 28, 1992.


PALE DESERVES STATUS AS SEAT OF REPUBLIKA SRPSKA

Kalinić said that an initiative by the Association of the Creators of Republika Srpska, of which he is a member, envisaged that Banja Luka be declared the capital of Republika Srpska and Pale its seat.

He stressed that Banja Luka deserved this status as a major administrative and economic center and one of the most important cities in Republika Srpska.

Regarding Pale as the seat, Kalinić emphasized that the local community was of great historical significance because key political and military decisions concerning the fate of Republika Srpska were made there during the war.

"Pale deserves this because of its history and the sacrifices made there. Why should we not have both a capital and a seat, thereby demonstrating that we are a modern state?" Kalinić asked.


CONSIDER REFORMING COUNCIL OF PEOPLES TO IMPROVE EFFICIENCY

Speaking about the functioning of Republika Srpska's institutions, he assessed that the Council of Peoples often acted as an obstacle to the adoption of decisions and laws, making it necessary to consider different models for its organization.

Kalinić stressed that protecting the vital national interests of the constituent peoples must remain the Council's function, but that a solution enabling more efficient decision-making needed to be found.

"With the best intention of protecting the interests of all three peoples, it has become an obstacle and something contrary to the interests of all three peoples," Kalinić said.


STRENGTHEN TIES BETWEEN REPUBLIKA SRPSKA AND SERBIA

He said that he saw Republika Srpska today as a free and democratic community with a promising future and considerable human and material resources, whose more effective use could contribute to greater economic self-sufficiency.

"A state that exists only on paper, within certain constitutional frameworks, is not a state if it lacks economic strength," Kalinić stressed.

He said he viewed Republika Srpska as a state of the Serb people aspiring to natural unification and union with Serbia, adding that it remained to be seen how and in what way this could be achieved.

Kalinić stressed that strengthening Republika Srpska was not directed against any people in BiH and that a form of peaceful coexistence with the Federation of BiH could be found. However, he said, Republika Srpska should not sever its ties with Serbia, which represents a strong source of support.

"What we have built was not done for the sake of our own personal comfort, but for our children and future generations who will continue to live in this country and should regard Republika Srpska as their own, as an achievement handed down to them by their fathers," Kalinić stressed.

He also pointed to the need for the education system to devote greater attention to the historical circumstances in which Republika Srpska was established, so that younger generations could gain a clearer understanding of its creation and development.

"Our younger generation needs to know how all this came into being and that it was not created through an uprising by Serb rebels in forests and meadows, but as a powerful act by a politically mature people aware of its strength and its desire for freedom and equality with other peoples in this region," Kalinić said.