Decision on RS referendum must be annulled, not suspended

The decision on holding a referendum in the BiH entity of Republika Srpska on the Court and Prosecutor's Office of BiH, adopted in July 2015, has been published in the Official Gazette of Republika Srpska, but it has not yet been published and has not entered into force.

The President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, said that the Decision on holding a referendum will be suspended, after it has now been made, but that this is not a "sign of weakness, but rather an assessment that there would be no political consensus on this issue at this time".

The referendum question on the Court and Prosecutor's Office in the referendum, which according to Dodik's announcement will be suspended, was supposed to read: "Do you support the unconstitutional and unauthorized imposition of laws by the High Representative of the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially the imposed laws on the Court and Prosecutor's Office of BiH and the application of their decisions in the territory of Republika Srpska?"

Political analyst Muharem Cero believes that the suspension of the Decision on the referendum is a deception by Milorad Dodik. The decision, he points out, must be annulled, not suspended, because the referendum in this case is anti-Dayton behavior.

Cero expects that those who declare themselves as state-building parties will urgently initiate an assessment of the constitutionality of Dodik's decision on the referendum, and permanently abolish anti-Dayton actions.

"Anything else would mean that this decision is constitutional and that Dodik or someone else could take it out of the drawer and use it at some future time," Cero concludes, adding that with the referendum, Dodik actually wants to annul all decisions of the Court and Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the High Representative, which would destabilize the country.

High Representative Valentin Inzko had also previously warned that the Decision of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska on the referendum on state judiciary and the powers of the High Representative is a clear violation of the Dayton Peace Agreement.