Išerić: Dodik should be informed that the ideas and positions he represents are characteristic only of fascism

By Dr. sc. Enver Išerić

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"I am fighting against the BiH that Bakir Izetbegović has in his head. I am fighting against the BiH in which Muslims are the dominant nation that wants to impose its will, as it does with Croats and Serbs. I am fighting for the Republika Srpska which has a clear status, precise, separate from what Izetbegović wants, and I will continue to do so," said Dodik, as reported by the Patria News Agency.

There, now it is clear even to the last fool what the problem is and why Milorad Dodik has blocked the institutions of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Dodik fears the dominance of Bosniaks, their imposition of will on Serbs and Croats. They are so dominated that they have parity representation in the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, that the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers is elected from among the other constituent peoples after each election, that the Chairperson of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina rotates every eight months. Bosniaks impose their will on Serbs and Croats by the fact that, according to the Dayton Constitution, Bosnia and Herzegovina is a territorially reorganized state with the establishment of two entities, and Serbs and Croats are particularly threatened because they have parity representation in the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the House of Peoples of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and also the Council of Peoples of Republika Srpska, where they can, and should, like Bosniaks, protect their national (correctly, ethnic) interests, because all of us who live in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as an independent and sovereign state, are members of one – Bosnian nation, or all of us are Bosnians. Of course, we were all once Bosniaks – Bosnians of different faiths, but when the disintegration of Bosnia began, the disintegration of the name Bosniak and the Bosnian language also began. But that is not important now. Everyone has the right to declare themselves as they wish. What is important is that all those who live in Bosnia are Bosnians by nationality, regardless of whether they declare themselves as such or not, and that they are members of the ethnic group they declare themselves to be (Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks, Italians, Slovenes, Roma, Hungarians, etc.), just as Bosniaks living in Serbia are Serbs, and by ethnic group affiliation, Bosniaks.

You are so dominated, Mr. Dodik, that you have blocked the work of state institutions, both at the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina and at the level of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. You are frightening the European Union, Mr. Milorad, with two million Bosniaks in Bosnia. In doing so, you use the term Muslims to be more convincing in warning of the danger that threatens Europeans. As if we are not Europeans. You fight so hard against domination that in the Republika Srpska entity, Bosniaks are denied the right to the Bosnian language, despite the fact that we are all constituent and have equal rights throughout our state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. How is it possible that the constitutions of some cantons are still not harmonized with the constitution of the entity and the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, i.e., the Decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH on the constitutionality of peoples. What are you talking about, Mr. Milorad? How is it possible that you are trying to misuse the term "constituent" and demand special rights by invoking the term constitutionality.

The Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina states: "Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs, as constituent peoples (along with others), and citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina hereby establish the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina." Can you, Mr. Dodik, draw the conclusion from this wording that Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs, as the most numerous peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina, are essential ethnic communities that form the Bosnian nation – Bosnians, and are therefore mentioned as constituent peoples because constitutive, Italian Constitutivus means determined, essential, established, basic, component, constituent, but also all other citizens have equal rights, and they are also essential, constituent, established by the constitution, and therefore constitutive throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina. Are Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats listed as constituent peoples due to the need to emphasize their responsibility for building the state, and not the right to dismantle it?

Do you know that the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina states: "The rights and freedoms provided for in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and its protocols shall be directly applied in Bosnia and Herzegovina. These acts shall have priority over all other laws."!?

Do you know, Mr. Dodik, that Annex I of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina lists additional agreements on human rights that will be applied in Bosnia and Herzegovina, namely 15 (fifteen) international documents, and that none of these documents contain the term constitutionality!?

Individual human rights in all these documents are treated as fundamental and natural rights belonging to every person, and every state is obliged to protect them, while collective rights are mentioned as rights of national minorities that the state should also ensure and protect.

After all, if something is unclear to you regarding this, you should look at the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, which explain these issues in great detail.

Therefore, stop making a science out of the term constitutionality and deriving interpretations with which you justify your destructive campaigns against the state of which you are a member of its Presidency.

Is Republika Srpska, according to its constitution, not "the state of the Serb people and all citizens who live in it, based on the rule of law and social justice, the principles of civil democracy, human and minority rights and freedoms, and adherence to European principles and values."!?

Similarly, the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia states: "The Republic of Croatia is established as the national state of the Croatian people and the state of members of national minorities: Serbs, Czechs, Slovaks, Italians, Hungarians, Jews, Germans, Austrians, Ukrainians, Rusyns, Bosniaks, Slovenes, Montenegrins, Macedonians, Russians, Bulgarians, Poles, Roma, Romanians, Turks, Vlachs, Albanians and others, who are its citizens, to whom equality with citizens of Croatian nationality and the exercise of national rights in accordance with the democratic norms of the UN and the countries of the free world are guaranteed."

Can you conclude from these constitutional definitions of Croatia and Serbia that all citizens of these countries are equal to the most numerous peoples in them (Croats and Serbs), and are therefore constitutive, fundamental and essential, because every person must be taken into account, as well as the entire ethnic group.

And finally, Mr. Dodik, what do you propose as a solution to the numerical dominance of Bosniaks (as you call Muslims) in Bosnia and Herzegovina? That one part emigrates to Serbia, and one part to Croatia, so that we become constitutive there too? Or do you have another plan? Maybe we should stop being born? Or not go to the polls? Or give up our state and all human rights so that we hand over the management of the state and our lives to you. Or maybe we should declare ourselves differently in the next census?

However, you must be credited with skillfully obscuring the real problems and your intentions, and instead of implementing the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and strengthening state institutions, you are trying to introduce new discrimination through so-called legitimate representation and blocking the work of institutions, portraying Bosnia and Herzegovina as a failed or impossible state. Unfortunately, Mr. Dodik, you are not the only one threatening Bosnia and Herzegovina with disintegration. The President of the Main Board of the Croatian National Assembly (HNS) of BiH, Božo Ljubić, also did so, stating that Bosnia and Herzegovina is threatened with disintegration if the amendments to the Election Law further violate the equality of constituent peoples in electing the most important positions in the state, particularly referring to the election of members of the Presidency and delegates to the Houses of Peoples by members of only a specific people. The Dayton Constitution violated the rights of all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and overemphasized the rights of collectivities, which has led Bosnia and Herzegovina to the state it is currently in, and certainly not the rights of "constituent peoples" were violated.

Legitimate representation must be ensured in the Houses of Peoples, but the members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina will continue to be elected by all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and no one in the BiH Parliament should and will accept any other solutions. This is for the simple reason that it would be more dangerous for Bosnia and Herzegovina than the formation of ten new entities, not one.

In the upcoming constitutional changes, the possibilities of blocking the work of institutions must also be eliminated, and sanctions and the manner of work and functioning of institutions in such circumstances must be very clearly prescribed. How is it possible, Mr. Dodik, that a minority in parliament can block the work of the majority. Give just one such example in the world.

What do you think, Mr. Dodik, how would the Serbian Assembly function if elected Bosniaks did not attend its sessions? Or how would the Croatian Parliament function if elected members of the Parliament from the Serb people refused to attend sessions.

It is also clear to everyone that you advocate, more than Dragan Čović, for the establishment of a third entity. Well, in that case, the Republika Srpska entity would be reduced by 18%. That's how the calculator works, Mr. Milorad.

And finally, I must say that it would be best if you immediately ended the blockade of state institutions and returned to your homeland, Bosnia, and apologized to her, Mr. Dodik, for your dangerous and unconstitutional adventures, because otherwise Bosnia and Herzegovina will continue to act according to the constitution of the Republic of BiH based on the Constitutional Law adopted by the Assembly of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina on December 12, 1995, which is in force based on the provision of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina (continuity of legal regulations) which reads: "All laws, regulations and court rules that are in force in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the time when the Constitution enters into force shall remain in force to the extent that they are not in conflict with the Constitution until otherwise determined by the competent authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina."

I know that you will say that this cannot happen, because there will be no consent from the members of the Parliamentary Assembly from Republika Srpska. But there is no consent from the members of the Parliamentary Assembly from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for your unconstitutional actions, i.e., the blockade of state institutions.

Has anyone informed you, Mr. Dodik, that these ideas, positions, and actions you are taking are characteristic of fascism. Or perhaps you know it too, but you still insist on these ideas, just as the leadership of the Assembly of Bosnian Serbs insisted, after Ratko Mladić warned the deputies of the Assembly of Bosnian Serbs, at the session held on May 12, 1992, that their plan involved a crime, saying "this, people, is genocide."

And finally, Mr. Dodik, no one in this country of ours wants war, and you are doing everything to make it happen. Stop doing that.
Sapienti sat – a wise person knows enough.