Republika Srpska Assembly and Dodik challenge Bosnia with referendum
Express newspaper
22/08/2025 13:10
The Assembly of Republika Srpska (RS) will hold an extraordinary session on August 22, with the main topic being the decision of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina against Milorad Dodik.
Dodik was sentenced to one year in prison, but he paid the sentence with a fine of around 18 euros. In addition, he was also sentenced to six years of ban on holding public office – a decision that led the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Bosnia and Herzegovina to strip him of his mandate as president of RS.
After the deputies entered the RS Parliament hall, the services informed them that an anonymous call had been received about a planted bomb. Everyone was evacuated from the building and they are waiting for the police to carry out the search.
The session will continue at 11:30, Secretary Bojan Bosaničić told reporters in the Assembly.
The session will also consider amendments to the Law on Referendum, which are being reviewed under an accelerated procedure. According to the proposal, the Assembly would be able to form its own special referendum commissions, while the law would enter into force immediately the day after its adoption – something unusual for legal procedures.
If the changes are approved, MPs are expected to vote on holding a referendum, through which citizens would express their position on the decisions of the Court and the CEC, which stripped Dodik of his mandate.
The ruling coalition has proposed that the referendum be held on October 18 or 25, but until the beginning of the session it had not been clarified how the referendum question would be formulated.
The Bosnian Constitution does not provide that a lower level of government, such as the entity, can call referendums on decisions of state institutions, which calls into question the legality of the entire process.
Also on the agenda are “the next steps of the RS institutions,” as well as the formal approval of the resignation of Prime Minister Radovan Višković. This would leave the entity without a president and prime minister.
Dodik has been convicted of disrespecting the decisions of the international High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, tasked with implementing the Dayton Peace Agreement.
As president of the RS, he signed laws that provided for the non-implementation of decisions of the Bosnian Constitutional Court and the Office of the High Representative on the territory of the entity. These laws had previously been annulled by the High Representative, Christian Schmidt.
Dodik’s defense has filed an appeal with the Bosnian Constitutional Court, while the CEC is obliged, by law, to announce early elections for the president of RS within 90 days./rel