Dodik openly announced an attack on BiH's sovereignty on August 5, shifts responsibility to SDA

By Amra Varatanović

"BiH is in a deep constitutional and political crisis, its sovereignty will be called into question and various actions will occur. Anything that is not as we agreed after 30 days, SNSD will block everything and no European institution will be able to prevent it," said SNSD President Milorad Dodik on August 5 in East Sarajevo. On that day, the Agreement on the Principles of Government Formation at the State Level was signed with the presidents of HDZ BiH and SDA, Dragan Čović and Bakir Izetbegović.

The government was not formed within 30 days, but no one is yet saying the Agreement is invalid. Negotiations have stalled, there are no meetings between the three presidents, but there are harsh words and threats.

Although Dodik, as a member of the Presidency of BiH, refused to sign the Annual National Program for NATO, conditioning talks on it with the appointment of a candidate for the BiH Council of Ministers, who should be from SNSD, thus deepening the political crisis he announced, the blame is now being shifted to SDA.

The truth is that SDA, at its 7th Congress held on September 14, adopted a Program Declaration that caused sharp reactions from SNSD and Republika Srpska, as well as other political parties, because they see the organization of BiH as a "republic with three levels of government," i.e., a single civic state.

To SNSD's accusations of undermining the Dayton Peace Agreement by calling for a Republic of BiH, SDA responded that in its program documents, more precisely the SNSD Assembly Declaration, it sets the goal of the secession of RS. They also recalled the SNS Declaration from 2013, in which they stated the annexation of RS to Serbia as their goal.

"It is obvious here that some want to have the right to openly advocate for unilateral violations of Dayton, through announcements of secession or the formation of new entities, and they are trying to silence us with pressure when we seek legal constitutional reforms and a legitimate goal – a state of equal citizens. SDA does not threaten anyone, nor does it intend to achieve its legitimate goal (Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a state of equal citizens) through unconstitutional, unilateral, and illegal moves. The current Constitution of BiH stipulates that a two-thirds and entity majority in the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH is required for constitutional reform, and that is the only way to change the organization of BiH, which SDA perfectly understands," SDA announced.

The crisis was further complicated by today's announcement of the dismissal of the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of RS, Senad Bratić (SDA), initiated by SNSD with several other political parties and deputies. Bratić resigned during the day. SNSD announced that they no longer wish to cooperate with SDA.

As promised on August 5, Dodik began to achieve his goal – a complete blockade of the institutions' work to cause political chaos and leave room for the idea of "secession of RS."