The Constitutional Court of Republika Srpska issued rulings today on two claims brought by Bosniak politicians in the entity. The first was a claim that the planned referendum on the RS national holiday would violate the “vital national interests” of Bosniaks. The second suit made the same accusation about the RS government’s plan to publish its own analysis of the census data. In both cases, the court found that there were no threats to the interests of Bosniaks.
Bosniak politicians reacted angrily to Thursday’s decision, arguing that it violates the Dayton Peace Agreement which ended the 1992-95 war.
They called on the senior international official in Bosnia and Herzegovina, High Representative Valentin Inzko, to intervene and stop the referendum.
“This referendum can only be prevented by Valentin Inzko. We need a stronger reaction from the OHR [Office of the High Representative],” Minhet Okic, a member of the Bosniak Party of Democratic Action, which is part of the Domovina (Motherland) coalition in the Republika Srpska National Assembly, told Sarajevo-based website Klix.
