Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Željka Cvijanović, stated that it is evident many in Sarajevo are so blinded by hatred toward Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik and Republika Srpska itself that they fail to see how the trial against him has completely discredited Bosnia and Herzegovina and turned its judiciary into a tool for political score-settling.
“If the vision of a common state means foreigners as absolute rulers and the political elites in Sarajevo as their goldfish, with Republika Srpska and its institutions as sacrificial victims, then no one should be surprised that Serbs resist such a vision,” Cvijanović told Večernje novosti.
She added that political Sarajevo clearly pressured the judiciary into handing down a predetermined verdict. “Everything said by Sarajevo politicians was aimed at influencing the judiciary,” she said, adding that these same politicians are trying to divert attention from their own corruption by attacking President Dodik.
Cvijanović emphasized that the process against Dodik was politically staged from the beginning and triggered by the unauthorized actions of an unelected foreigner with no right to impose laws in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
She noted it is outrageous that the judiciary accepted to act on the basis of such illegal impositions, rather than the Constitution, which they trampled with such behavior.
“Therefore, the outcome of the second-instance verdict is political, just as the first-instance one was. Institutions of Republika Srpska must respond accordingly, protecting the political will of the people who elected their representatives, and defending the interests of Republika Srpska, its citizens, and its institutions,” Cvijanović said.
She stressed that such a procedure could not be conducted in any normal country. “Can we even imagine a foreigner imposing a law in another country, then prescribing that disobeying his decisions is a criminal offense — even when you’re performing regular constitutional duties? And you’re expected to accept this as normal?!”
Cvijanović stated that what the high representatives have done constitutes an abuse of authority under the Dayton Agreement, citing so-called “Bonn powers” as politically motivated and lacking any legal basis.
“Proper high representatives are selected through the prescribed procedure and operate within a mandate defined by Annex 10 of the Dayton Agreement. Those who are not selected accordingly and act outside those powers are merely instruments of the American deep state and European bureaucratic structures aiming to manufacture a nation,” she said.
Cvijanović emphasized that a unitary Bosnia and Herzegovina is not an option, nor would Serbs or Croats agree to it, and such a model was not envisioned in the Dayton Agreement.
“The agreement does not allow for an unelected foreign bureaucrat to adopt or change laws in place of the domestic parliament, nor for courts to prosecute politicians for actions taken within their constitutional competencies,” she said.
She added that Bosniak politicians have consistently relied on foreign intervention, and now increasingly on a judiciary willing to serve their political agendas, instead of seeking internal consensus — a practice she says is damaging to BiH.
Cvijanović: Together with coalition partners, we lead all key processes
SNSD vice president Željka Cvijanović stated that SNSD is a serious party which, together with its coalition partners, leads all major political processes in Republika Srpska and that she is confident this will remain the case after next year’s elections.
Decisions about candidacies, she said, will be made when the time is right.
“I’ve always been a team player, entirely committed to team success, and that won’t change,” she added.
Asked why Sarajevo media keep speculating about internal conflicts in SNSD and claim she will replace Milorad Dodik politically, Cvijanović replied that it’s because they have nothing better to do.
“In every Sarajevo ‘troika’ party — some of which don’t even have a third of SNSD’s support — there are three or four factions and as many mini-leaders. In contrast, SNSD has long been the largest and most powerful political party in Republika Srpska and BiH because of its broad structure, cohesive and well-coordinated team, and a single leader named Milorad Dodik,” she said.
She concluded by noting that SNSD’s election results speak louder than rumors: “If we were fighting internally, we wouldn’t be winning so convincingly.”
Source: RTRS
