Today's Decision on Whether Referendum and Census Violate Vital National Interest of Bosniaks

The Constitutional Court of Republika Srpska will consider today two requests from the Club of Delegates of the Bosniak people from the Council of Peoples of Republika Srpska. One request concerns the announced referendum in RS on January 9, which is celebrated as RS Day in this BiH entity, and the other request concerns the announcement that RS will publish the results of the 2013 population census in BiH separately, independently of the census published by the Agency for Statistics of BiH.

In both cases, the Club of Delegates of the Bosniak people from the Council of Peoples of Republika Srpska believes that the vital national interests of Bosniaks in RS will be violated.

The Constitutional Court of BiH declared January 9, celebrated as RS Day, unconstitutional, but the authorities from Banja Luka refuse to accept such a decision. The RS authorities announced that citizens of RS will decide on this issue in a referendum, scheduled for September 25. The referendum was also supported by opposition parties. Their only objection was the date of the referendum. They requested that the referendum be postponed after the Local Elections in BiH, which will be held on October 2.

The authorities in RS also refuse to accept the population census in BiH published in the middle of this year. They announced that RS will publish its own census.

The Club of Delegates of the Bosniak people from the Council of Peoples of Republika Srpska believes that both the referendum on January 9 and the publication of the population census threaten the vital national interest of Bosniaks. They requested protection from the Constitutional Court of RS.
Vice President of Republika Srpska Ramiz Salkić earlier told the Bosnian news agency Patria that he does not expect much from the Constitutional Court of RS. He says it is unlikely that the Court will protect Bosniaks and BiH.

- The Court is under the direct control of RS President Milorad Dodik, the National Assembly of RS, and the Council of Peoples of RS – Salkić believes.

- And the fact that the veto on January 9 very quickly found its way onto the agenda of the Constitutional Court of RS tells us that the authorities want to remove all barriers that could potentially hinder the holding of the referendum as soon as possible – says Salkić.

The Vice President of RS warns that the issue of the referendum on January 9 is not only a matter for Bosniaks. Holding the referendum means disrespecting the Decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH. And that, says Salkić, is a direct blow to the Dayton Peace Agreement.

- OHR and High Representative Valentin Inzko must stop the referendum, because it is a blow to Dayton. No one has the right to disrespect the decisions of the Constitutional Court – said Salkić.

He believes that if the referendum on January 9 passes, every time the authorities in RS do not like a decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH, they will call a referendum. The existence of the Constitutional Court of BiH becomes meaningless, writes Patria.