SNSD is financed with budget money, that money is just deposited: Milorad Dodik cannot remain at the head of the party!

By: Rasim Belko

In a country where the Constitution is read like a horoscope, and the decisions of the High Representative are interpreted as a weather forecast, Milorad Dodik's political survival has long ceased to be a matter of law – but rather of behind-the-scenes agreements. And when legal fiction becomes the basis of political reality, truth is the first casualty.

Can Dodik remain president of SNSD after Schmidt's decision? The answer is banal – he cannot. And there should be no debate about it. Unless someone has decided to turn legal logic into a political circus.

What caused confusion was Schmidt's decision to “suspend payments” to SNSD and United Srpska. It was misunderstood as a ban on financing. In fact, the money is still there – it has just been temporarily deposited into a special account of the Central Bank of BiH, and it was paid in the name of SNSD.

So, the money has not disappeared. Nor has it been withheld. Dodik just cannot spend it at the moment. Which means SNSD still has financing from the budget. It just doesn't see it.

And that brings us to the essence: according to the law of this country, a political party financed by public funds cannot be led by a person who has been finally convicted. Period.

SNSD has representatives in the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, in the Parliament of the Federation, cantonal assemblies, municipal councils in the FBiH. All these levels plan and allocate budget funds for that party. And all these funds, according to Schmidt's decision, are still being duly paid – they just don't go directly into SNSD's coffers, but wait in the Central Bank.

But they are still public. They are still intended for SNSD.

Therefore, SNSD is a beneficiary of the budget. And Milorad Dodik, finally convicted by the Court of BiH, cannot be at the head of an organization that spends citizens' money.

And no, this is not a matter of interpretation. This is the law. This is constitutional logic. This is the minimum of political hygiene.

In his decision, the High Representative has left himself the option to return the money to SNSD – when and if he assesses that the “circumstances are justified”.

Because if everything depends on his assessment, then there is no legal mechanism – only political will. And that, as we know, in BiH often depends on the morning coffee in Vienna or some meeting in Brussels.

He also added a sentence that “the suspension of payments cannot be considered an outstanding obligation to SNSD”. In translation, the state owes SNSD nothing – but perhaps it will return everything.

And so we have a perfect scenario for political manipulation, the money is there, the party cannot use it, but it still receives it. Dodik remains president, even though he shouldn't. Schmidt pretends to punish, even though he hasn't really sanctioned anything.

If the High Representative has even a shred of political integrity, he must address the public and say what everyone already knows: SNSD is still financed by the budget. Milorad Dodik, as a convicted person, cannot lead that party.

If he does not say this, if he does not confirm it, then the only logical assumption is that a deal is being made behind the scenes between him and Dodik, with the blessing of international actors for whom BiH is no longer a state of law, but a geopolitical experiment.

Because how else to explain that Schmidt took the money from Dodik's hands – and left his party throne untouched?

If Schmidt is serious, then he must take the next step. He cannot pretend that a sanction exists if its consequences do not.

Because Schmidt's credibility, just like SNSD's money, is currently in a special account. Frozen, but not forgotten.

The only question is who will withdraw it first – Schmidt, Dodik, or history.