The National Assembly of Republika Srpska was established to protect the status of the Serb people in BiH, and that mission remains just as relevant today, lawyer Ognjen Tadić told the Srna news agency.
According to Tadić, the establishment of what is now the National Assembly of Republika Srpska 35 years ago made other constituent peoples recognize Serbs as an equal people in BiH, while giving the Serb population confidence that its interests would be protected and that the tragic events of 1941 would not be repeated.
“What was particularly significant was that this Assembly was not imposed by any individual or political party. It consisted of democratically elected representatives who understood that, during the processes that were breaking Yugoslavia apart, national policy was the most important priority, and preserving the status of their own people was the primary objective,” Tadić emphasized.
He added that this responsibility has continued for decades and, in his view, will remain important as long as political forces he associates with the policies and threats of 1941 continue to operate.
Tadić argued that those circumstances had made it necessary to establish the Assembly of the Serb People and subsequently Republika Srpska.
National Assembly marks 35 years since its establishment
The National Assembly of Republika Srpska, the highest constitutional and legislative body within Republika Srpska’s institutional structure and the central institution of its parliamentary system, was established on October 24, 1991, under its original name, the Assembly of the Serb People in BiH.
The decision was adopted by representatives elected in the autumn 1990 elections.
At its inaugural session, held on the same day, the Assembly adopted several other politically significant acts, including the Decision on the Serb People’s Continued Membership in the Common State of Yugoslavia and the Decision to Call and Conduct a Plebiscite of the Serb People in BiH.
On January 9, 1992, members of the National Assembly adopted the Declaration Proclaiming the Republic of the Serb People of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This date is commemorated in Republika Srpska as Republika Srpska Day.
On February 28, 1992, the National Assembly adopted the Constitution of Republika Srpska and the Constitutional Law on its Implementation, formally establishing the constitutional and legal framework of the Serb people’s political entity.
Source: RTRS
