SRPSKA IS THE ONLY DEFENDER OF DAYTON BiH

BANJA LUKA, SEPTEMBER 3 /SRNA/ - Republika Srpska President Siniša Karan said that the biggest misconception is to portray Republika Srpska as a problem for BiH, stressing that it is the only defender of the constitutional order of Dayton BiH, although many people either do not understand this or choose to ignore it.

BiH, he said, must accept what it is instead of constantly trying to become something else, noting that it is neither a unitary nor a single-nation state, but a complex state community made up of two entities and three constituent peoples with equal rights, whether some people like it or not.

"Successful complex states are not based on imposing one political vision on others, but on the ability to respect one another and resolve disagreements through agreement. That is why I constantly emphasize parity, consensus and the division of competences as the basic principles of a functional BiH as a federal state," Karan stressed.

He said that BiH’s problem is not its complexity, but the efforts by political Sarajevo and part of the international community to undermine that complexity.

Karan pointed out that political crises have arisen precisely because the constituent status of the peoples, the entities’ powers and the mechanisms for protecting their rights have been viewed as obstacles that need to be removed.

"It is up to us which group we will belong to. The formula exists and is laid down in the Dayton Agreement. What is needed is the political maturity for everyone to accept parity, consensus and the division of competences as facts, and for BiH to function only as a community in which no one seeks to dominate another," Karan told Glas Srpske.

He said that the future authorities would have an obligation to the people of Republika Srpska to preserve its institutional capacity and political stability, as well as to continue working to strengthen its economy and enhance its international standing.

Karan said that the institutions and the Dayton Agreement are not only the foundation of stability in Republika Srpska, but also the only sustainable foundation for stability in BiH as a whole.

"We have been through a period of major political and institutional pressures, and it was precisely under such circumstances that the importance of Republika Srpska having stable institutions that regularly exercise their constitutional powers became evident," Karan stressed.

He added that such institutions are the best guarantee that Srpska can protect its interests regardless of where the challenges come from.

He stressed that the challenges would not disappear, because the fundamental political dispute in BiH is a dispute between two concepts: the federal model on which the Dayton Agreement is based, and the unitary model, which seeks to concentrate power and decision-making in Sarajevo.

"Our response is a policy of responsibility and defending the Constitution and the Dayton Agreement, because we know what our interests are, what our Dayton powers are, and where the constitutional boundaries lie that cannot be crossed," Karan said.

He reminded that Dayton established a system in which no one can outvote the others and in which agreement is a prerequisite for its functioning, adding that its essence rests on three principles of a functional federal state: parity, consensus and a clear division of powers.

"All three constituent peoples agreed to such an act, and it established mechanisms to protect both the peoples and the entities. Dayton has no alternative if we want a stable and sustainable BiH. The question is whether all actors are willing to actually implement it, rather than taking from it only what suits their political interests," Karan said.

According to him, when Republika Srpska defends its competences, it is calling for the rules that everyone agreed to and that brought peace to be respected.

"It is up to us to stand firm on this, but it is also up to others in BiH, as well as international actors, to accept that lasting stability cannot be built through imposition, but only through agreement," Karan said.

Answering a question about interventionism by the high representatives, which has largely led to the unitarization of BiH, and about the annulment of decisions imposed by foreign officials as a result of the exercise of the so-called Bonn Powers, Karan said that annulling such acts should be an institutional, legally grounded and responsible process.

He said that the so-called Bonn Powers had been used to impose laws, remove elected officials from office and fundamentally reconfigure the competences established by the Constitution, resulting in a situation where BiH’s constitutional structure was significantly altered without a formal amendment to the Constitution.

"Our position is that Annex 10 of the Dayton Agreement does not grant the High Representative legislative powers, while the Constitution of BiH clearly stipulates who has the authority to enact laws. Sovereignty in BiH belongs to the peoples and the entities, not to a foreign actor who places itself above the constitutional order," Karan explained.

Asked whether Republika Srpska is heading in the right direction in terms of foreign policy, Karan said that it is currently pursuing a very active and distinctive policy of international positioning through dialogue based on the Constitution and the Dayton Agreement.

He stressed that Republika Srpska engages in dialogue and builds partnerships where there is a common interest, while at the same time clearly and substantiatedly defending its constitutional position and its right to have its voice heard.

He pointed to the importance of the contacts that President Milorad Dodik, Serb member of the BiH Presidency Željka Cvijanović, and Director of the Republika Srpska Office for International Cooperation Ana Trišić Babić maintain with international partners.

"When dialogue is free from prejudice, it also creates room for arguments that have been suppressed for years to be heard," Karan concluded.