BiH CONSTITUTION MUST BE AMENDED AND THE OHR CLOSED

SARAJEVO, November 16 /SRNA/ - The end of the war in BiH is the greatest achievement of the Dayton Peace Agreement, but its annexes have been surpassed and the time has come to amend the BiH Constitution and close the OHR, Milan Petković, MP of United Srpska in the BiH House of Representatives, told SRNA.

Petković emphasized that by ending the war, the Dayton Agreement became one of the most important agreements in the modern history of not only the Balkans, but Europe as well. "However, its annexes - especially Annex IV, which is the BiH Constitution, and Annex X, which regulates the existence and functioning of the OHR - are completely outdated," Petković stated. He recalled that the BiH Constitution has already been altered multiple times, most often through decisions of high representatives or through acts of BiH parliaments adopted under the pressure of international representatives in the country. For this reason, Petković said, the Constitution must be amended - but in the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH and through the prescribed procedure, with the core task of defining the composition, competencies, and decision-making mechanisms of the BiH Constitutional Court. "On the other hand, it is long overdue for the OHR to be closed, because 30 years after Dayton it has lost its purpose, and BiH has become the last European colony. Whether this will happen through a new international conference - a 'Dayton Two' - or within domestic legislative institutions, remains to be seen. I am certain, however, that the time has come for a new structuring of relations in BiH," Petković concluded.