Dodik's private referendum, spreading fear among the unfitting Serbs

The referendum in the RS and issue of confirmation of 9 January as the day of Republika Srpska have been exaggerated for no reason. The entire campaign is going to the benefit of Milorad Dodik as the tension around the referendum will secure him a victory at the upcoming elections, most of all in Banja Luka. The 9th, or the 8th or the 10th of January – it doesn't really matter. The ball is in his court and he is about to strike it with power.

On the other hand, Dodik's referendum may be an excellent confirmation of Bosnian statehood. His entity referendum confirms that the RS is a part of BiH. By this referendum, Milorad Dodik will have acknowledged the referendum of 29 February 1992, as it confirms the day of an entity in the state of BiH.

A few days ago, Dodik's majority in the National Assembly of RS announced a change to the Law on Holidays. By doing so, their leader created some room for maneuver, which he will desperately need before annoyed international community.

However, Dodik's referendum is also full of contradictions. Sinisa Karan, President of implementation of referendum is also General Secretary of Dodik's presidential cabinet. Hence this referendum might as well be called Dodik's semi-private referendum. Anywhere else, this would be considered a conflict of interest (if nothing else) as the referendum was called by the entity president and organized by his chief of cabinet.

Nevertheless, the referendum is associated with widely spread fear of chaos and conflict. In Republika Srpska, not only non-Serb population lives in fear. This referendum weekend, as one can sense from the social networks, the fear has spread among Serbs, ordinary people in the RS. There have been too many threats by their compatriots to come out and vote.

Luka Petrovic, a candidate for the mayor of Trebinje, confirmed there is such kind of fear spreading around in the RS, when he said with a threatening undertone:

- We will check who has voted and who has not.

This scary statement has echoed throughout the RS.

At the same time, the referendum is denied by the entire opposition, yet they will all vote. In fact, Milorad Dodik governs the RS by method of fear as his most powerful weapon. Even Mladen Ivanic didn't dare not to vote, even though he called it a 'pre-election trick' and 'unnecessary act'. Any kind of refusal could cost him being elected. Therefore, Dodik organized the referendum for his own political gain but he also managed to force the entire opposition to vote and show him his absolute obedience.