RS Law on Holidays Amendment to Make January 9th Celebration Non-Mandatory

Prime Minister of Republika Srpska Željka Cvijanović stated today that the referendum on the Day of Republika Srpska is not aimed at destabilizing BiH, but at implementing the decision of the BiH Constitutional Court, reports the BiH news agency Patria.

- No one has called a referendum on dissolution, secession, or separation. The referendum was called because we want citizens to say whether they love, want, and support January 9th as the Day of RS. I don't see why everyone needs to warn us about things we are not dealing with - Cvijanović said.

Commenting on yesterday's meeting with ambassadors and EU representatives, she said it was a working meeting where ambassadors expressed the view that there was no need to hold a referendum.

- The President of Republika Srpska, the institutions of RS, have said that there is indeed a need to hold a referendum. There are two parallel tracks for implementing the Constitutional Court's decision. One is to hold a referendum, and it is one of the steps towards implementing the Constitutional Court's decision, and the second step is to make certain amendments to the Law on Holidays itself, in a part related to certain obligations - the Prime Minister said.

Cvijanović emphasized that this is how the Constitutional Court's decision is being implemented and added that the referendum aims to gauge the will of the people.