BOSNIAKS ARE INSISTING IN VAIN ON UNCONSTITUTIONAL STATE PROPERTY LAW

ISTOČNO SARAJEVO, NOVEMBER 29 /SRNA/ - A group of Bosniak MPs, with some additional support, is persistently, but in vain, insisting on the adoption of an anti-Dayton and unconstitutional law on so-called state property, SNSD member of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, Milorad Kojić, stated.

Kojić pointed out that the Dayton Agreement and constitutional status of both BiH and Republika Srpska are completely clear, as the issue of property was settled by the Dayton Peace Agreement, under which property falls exclusively under the competence of the entities. "All unconstitutional aspirations of the Bosniaks, through which they are trying to create a unitary BiH and, by usurping the property of Republika Srpska, turn it into an empty shell, simply cannot and will not succeed. They are impossible, at least as far as the MPs from the SNSD and its coalition partners are concerned," Kojić told SRNA. He also emphasized that it is very clear that there exists an inter-entity line and an inter-entity boundary in BiH that separates the property of the Federation of BiH from the property of Republika Srpska. "Srpska has an absolute constitutional right and constitutional authority to manage its property in full capacity. This includes forests, waters, and all other resources and facilities that fall within the scope of the property rights of Republika Srpska," Kojić emphasized. He stated that the Constitution of BiH also stipulates that certain provisions of the entity constitutions must be harmonized with the provisions of the BiH Constitution, meaning that everything not regulated by the BiH Constitution is the exclusive competence of the entities. He pointed out that the Constitution of BiH does not assign any competence to the state regarding property issues, and that Republika Srpska had harmonized its Constitution with the amendments to the BiH Constitution. According to him, the Constitution of Republika Srpska also very clearly stipulates that Republika Srpska regulates property and contractual relations, as well as ownership relations related to property. He recalled that Republika Srpska had, at the time, adopted the Law on Property Rights, thereby regulating this issue, along with many other laws related to privatization and ownership rights, as well as buildings, land, forests, and all property-related matters. Kojić noted that by safeguarding the property of Republika Srpska, one also safeguards Srpska itself and the survival of the Serb people in this area. At its 27 November session, the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH decided to consider the Draft Law on State Property under regular procedure, since there was no entity majority to allow it to be discussed under urgent and shortened procedure, as requested by a group of Bosniak MPs. The sponsors of the proposal were MPs Jasmin Emrić, Šemsudin Mehmedović, Aida Baručija, and Elvisa Hodžić.