KOVAČEVIĆ: WE DEFEATED "AGHAS" LONG TIME AGO, SRPSKA WILL CHOOSE ITS REPRESENTATIVES ON ITS OWN

BANJA LUKA, OCTOBER 1 /SRNA/ - SNSD Spokesman Radovan Kovačević said that NiP leader Elmedin Konaković has already been involved in the election campaign for the President of Republika Srpska, and that Bosniak politicians have already promised their support to the opposition candidate.

"They are already telling him how he must behave. He has to be someone who will agree to `tie the horse where the agha says`. And once again, the agha should be a Sarajevo agha," Kovačević told RTRS. He noted that he harbors no negative feelings toward the Bosniak people, emphasizing that Bosniaks are equal citizens of Republika Srpska. "Everywhere, we take equal care of Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats, because all citizens are equal. We are talking about political influence. What we are demanding is the right to decide our own destiny, regardless of whether someone in Sarajevo, Berlin, or Washington wants to impose their will. Elmedin Konaković says: `If you protect the interests of Srpska and the Serb people, if you act responsibly and patriotically, we will make sure you end up like Dodik.`" Kovačević said. He emphasized that he is against such positions and that the people in this region freed themselves from the "aghas" a long time ago. "We believed that when we won our freedom from the aghas, we had also secured freedom for Elmedin Konaković and Bakir Izetbegović, but they do not embrace that idea," said Kovačević, who is also a Serb member of the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly. He emphasized that Republika Srpska will remain free, choose its own representatives, make its own decisions, defend itself from attacks, and continue to fight strongly for its key priority - a better life for every person. Regarding the opposition and the candidate proposed by the SDS, Branko Blanuša, Kovačević says that Blanuša is a man of Republika Srpska, but that the opposition had entirely different plans until they saw that the SNSD would take part in the elections. "Then they realized that they no longer needed to look for a candidate for president, but rather for someone willing to lose the election. Many leading figures of the SDS and the opposition were interested, but once they saw that we would take part, they gave up. /PDP leader Draško/ Stanivuković says he remains principled and keeps insulting Dodik. All the polls show that he cannot defeat the SNSD candidate," Kovačević said. He added that he had heard Stanivuković's statements in which he said he was ready to talk with the opposition, but would not enter the election race. "You won't enter a race that is lost in advance, but you take part by supporting someone else. That is hypocrisy and cowardice. Here, it is clear to every person in Srpska that this is an attack on Srpska, and we have been brought into a situation where someone has done everything to remove our president simply because he respected the Constitution of Srpska," Kovačević said. He asked what awaits us tomorrow if unity does not exist. "We must be united and all stand together in the defense of Srpska; otherwise, we are vulnerable. We will do everything possible to ensure that Republika Srpska remains stable and free, improving life, increasing salaries and pensions, and enhancing support for all, from farmers to social benefits. We cannot achieve this if we allow the will of certain foreigners to be imposed on us. In the end, just one message - Srpska will prevail," Kovačević concluded.