POPOVIĆ: VETERANS SHOULD HAVE PLACE IN NEW CONSTITUTION OF SRPSKA

BANJA LUKA, APRIL 15 /SRNA/ - The president of the Working Group tasked with drafting a new Republika Srpska Constitution, Vitomir Popović, believes that former members of the Republika Srpska Army /RSA/, who are the most deserving of the creation of Republika Srpska, including families of fallen soldiers and former camp inmates, should have a place in the new Constitution of Srpska.

"We will take this into account in the proposal for the new Constitution of Republika Srpska," Popović told reporters in Banja Luka ahead of an expert debate on a draft Constitution of Republika Srpska, organized by the Organization of the RSA Commanding Officers.

Popović reminded that similar provisions exist in the constitutions of countries of the region, such as Croatia and Slovenia, where veterans are given special recognition and where the state pledges to provide special care for these groups.

He says there are more than 120 amendments significantly burdening the text of the current Constitution of Republika Srpska.

"The 1992 Constitution of Republika Srpska was altered through interventions by High Representatives Wolfgang Petritsch and Paddy Ashdown, who significantly influenced changes to the internal structure of Republika Srpska in an attempt to reduce it to the bare minimum," Popović said.

Popović says that everything imposed by the High Representatives will find its place in history - or on its garbage heap.

He says that the issue of the Republika Srpska Council of Peoples has not yet been discussed, as it was left for talks with representatives of the other two constituent peoples.

Popović reminded that, due to a number of circumstances, the defense was transferred to the level of BiH's joint institutions.

"We will return the issue of defense to the Republika Srpska Constitution, from where certain powers stem that belong to the Republika Srpska President as the supreme commander of the armed forces," Popović said.

He says that the Republika Srpska Constitution is the highest political and legal act that makes every nation proud, stressing that a nation not capable of enacting its constitution cannot expect to be capable of building a state.

"We are confident that the new Constitution of Republika Srpska will soon see the light of day, without delving into whether it will be adopted by a two-thirds majority in the Republika Srpska Parliament or through a referendum," Popović said.

Popović says that the public debate on the draft of the new Constitution of Republika Srpska is proceeding as planned.

"All comments we gather will be presented at the Constitutional Committee of the Republika Srpska National Assembly and carefully reviewed. After that, we will assess what should be included in the new Constitution of Republika Srpska," Popović concluded.

The expert debate, held at the Republika Srpska National Assembly, was attended by representatives of organizations that came into being after the Patriotic-Defense War.

The Republika Srpska National Assembly adopted a decision on March 13 to establish the Draft Constitution of Republika Srpska.