Bosnian Serb Parties Brace for Assembly Clashes

The next session of the Republika Srpska parliament on October 17 could determine political relations and the balance of power in the entity in the coming months, experts say, as the 19 topics listed on the agenda include a number of hot issues.

The agenda does not include the most controversial issue of all however, namely the long-awaited referendum on the authority of Bosnian state judicial organizations.

The decision to hold a referendum on the powers of Bosnian courts in the entity was agreed by the assembly back in 2015 and officially published in the Republika Srpska Official Gazette only last month.

Under strong pressure from Serbia as well as from opposition parties, RS President Milorad Dodik had withheld publication of this decision for two years.

He only eventually allowed its publication under the threat of legal action from the opposition, sources from both ruling and opposition parties in the RS told BIRN.

Following that, the RS government has until mid-November to organize the referendum or officially withdraw the decision.

Opposition parties decided to press charges against Dodik for withholding this decision for two years in order to publicly embarrass him and his government.

But on the same day the referendum decision was published, on September 20, Dodik then announced he was withdrawing the initiative due to a perceived lack of support for it within the RS.

However, Dodik is still uncertain how to handle this issue, which is why the referendum on the courts will not be up for discussion at the next regular assembly session on October 17.

It is more likely to feature in a special session, expected to be held around the same time, sources told BIRN.

Yet,...