KOVAČEVIĆ: SNSD LEADING POLLS WITH ABOVE 40 PERCENT, ENTIRE OPPOSITION BELOW 30 PERCENT

BANJA LUKA, MAY 27 /SRNA/ - According to the latest public opinion surveys conducted across all electoral units in Republika Srpska, SNSD has support exceeding 40 percent, while all opposition parties combined remain below 30 percent, SNSD spokesperson Radovan Kovačević said.

Kovačević stated that the goal of the coalition gathered around SNSD in the upcoming elections is to secure a two-thirds majority in the Republika Srpska National Assembly, while the party's candidates for Republika Srpska president and the Serb member of the BiH Presidency would win without any problems.

"We will win a convincing majority from Republika Srpska in the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, while the result in the Republika Srpska National Assembly will also guarantee our position in the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly," Kovačević stated.

He stressed that the coalition gathered around SNSD would remain united and achieve a strong electoral result, continuing together to fight for Republika Srpska and its rights.

Kovačević said that the people decide "where SNSD and the opposition belong," adding that the opposition's place is "where it already is - in opposition".

"The opposition's problem is precisely that voters tell them in elections that their place is in opposition, but regardless of that, they try in Sarajevo to become part of the government and representatives of Republika Srpska, even though Republika Srpska has told them they cannot be that," he emphasized.

Kovačević said SNSD already knows whom it will nominate for Republika Srpska president and the Serb member of the BiH Presidency, but that the names would be announced when the time is right.

Asked whom SNSD would rather face from the opposition, Draško Stanivuković or Branko Blanuša, Kovačević said it made no difference to SNSD, but added that he was concerned about "the quality of the offer presented to citizens in Republika Srpska".

"What the opposition is offering is not the best quality in terms of knowledge or the ability to perform such duties effectively, which fortunately they will not have the opportunity to do," Kovačević told RTRS.

Speaking about the electoral process, Kovačević said SNSD is always prepared for interventions from Sarajevo and argued that the Central Election Commission of BiH lacks legal and democratic legitimacy and acts as an extension of Christian Schmidt.

According to him, the introduction of new electoral technologies would undermine one of the fundamental democratic rights, the right to a secret ballot.

"When you combine fingerprint identification, video surveillance and scanning of numbered ballots, one of the fundamental democratic rights, the secrecy of the vote is undermined," Kovačević stressed.

He noted that SNSD and its coalition partners are not afraid of elections, but rather of possible manipulation and electoral abuse, arguing that representatives of the majority will of Republika Srpska are entering the struggle together with the people of Republika Srpska not only against the opposition, but also against the Central Election Commission, which he described as "their and Schmidt's tool against Republika Srpska".

"We are not afraid of elections because we are absolutely convinced of the people's support. We are afraid of manipulation and theft that they are evidently preparing, but we will overcome it," Kovačević said.