INITIATIVE LAUNCHED TO DEFINE BANJA LUKA AS CAPITAL AND PALE AS SEAT OF REPUBLIC

PALE, SEPTEMBER 20 /SRNA/ – The Association "Creators of Republika Srpska" will submit an initiative to the National Assembly proposing amendments to the Constitution of Republika Srpska that would define Banja Luka as the capital and Pale as the seat of Republika Srpska.

The Association reminded that from late 1991 until the end of 1996, key political activities of the Republika Srpska leadership, the National Assembly, and the military and police leadership took place in Pale. "All of this contributed to the establishment, even before the outbreak of the tragic war in BiH, of the most important democratic institutions and governing bodies, in accordance with European standards for an independent and free state," the Association said in a statement. It added that Pale had therefore functioned de facto and de jure as the wartime seat of government and, after the 1992-1995 war, as the peacetime seat as well, until "effective authority was in practice transferred to Banja Luka at the end of the 1990s as a result of internal political conflict and divisions." "Given that over time Banja Luka has developed into the administrative and political center of Republika Srpska, with all the characteristics of a capital city, the conditions have also been created for Pale, through an appropriate constitutional amendment, to be granted the status of the seat of Republika Srpska," the statement said. The Association said it believed the municipality of Pale could justify that status through appropriate amendments to its urban development plan and targeted commercial and residential construction. It noted that two years ago, members of the National Assembly from Pale launched a similar initiative concerning the city's status, but that the proposal was not implemented due to what it described as a lack of political will and persistence. The Association called on all members of both the current and future convocations of the National Assembly to accept and support the initiative and to launch the process of amending the Constitution through the relevant parliamentary bodies or through the Republika Srpska Government.