Republic of Srpska President Meets with Political Party Presidents and Heads of Caucuses Represented in BiH Parliamentary Assembly

The President of the Republic of Srpska, Željka Cvijanović, spoke today in Banja Luka with the presidents of political parties and with the heads of party caucuses represented in the House of Representatives and in the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH.

The meeting discussed local elections in Srebrenica and activities related to the elections in Mostar.

The Republic of Srpska President stated that political parties from the Republic of Srpska will run together at the elections in Srebrenica and Mostar.

President Cvijanović said that the joint assessment of the meeting’s participants was that in Srebrenica, as one of the strategically important places, there should be one common candidate at the elections.

“We have taken clear positions, as we did in the past.  In the next five to seven days, talks will be held at the local level, and those talks will have the support of all these political parties, after which we can start promoting a common candidate,” stated the President of the Republic.

The President of the Republic of Srpska asserted that this is an invitation to political parties in Srpska to sit down in the next few days and reach an agreement that will be welcomed by the leadership of the political parties.

As for Mostar, President Cvijanović stressed that the situation is somewhat different, given that certain preparatory activities are ongoing with regard to holding elections for the first time in many years.

We expressed our absolute dissatisfaction with the position of the Serb community in Mostar, but also articulated the need to urgently resolve the issue of constitutivity; real, practical and political constitutivity of the Serb people in some cantons and in the Federation of BiH in general,” stressed President Cvijanović.

Srpska’s President added that in the context of upcoming activities, Serb caucuses will be left to conduct additional consultations for the adoption of the Election Law.

“There is a murky situation when it comes to the future and what the Serb community should enjoy.  What is important is that, whatever the solution and outcome of these legislative activities that are ahead of us is, our conclusion at today’s meeting that we want and will go as one block when it comes to the city of Mostar is especially important,” said President Cvijanović.

The President of the Republic conveyed to the Serbs in Mostar that they must know that they enjoy the support of the Republic of Srpska, that the political parties here are united, and that they understand the position that the Serb community has found themselves in and that they will try to improve the situation through legislative and political means.

“We want the Serbs in Mostar to be part of the search for a solution and of the functioning of the solution that will be reached, a position that must be strengthened,” President Cvijanović emphasized.