Ratification Not Authorized by Me
Interview of Biljana Plavsic
Banja Luka, 9 April, 1997 (AIM) - "I did not give authorization for signing of ratification document. I have not seen the document signed by Mirjanic", declared Biljana Plavsic in the interview to Serb Radio-Television carried by Nezavisne novine.
Commenting on Mirjanic's signature, Plavsic added that she still had no strength to talk to her Vice-President about this problem. "I am sorry that the Constitution has been questioned in some of its key elements. As President of RS I could not but warn against it, because if the president of the Republic does not warn against it, then we have no right - and all the laws are derived from the Constitution - to put into jail those who violate the law, if I make a precedent and violate the Constitution", said President of RS and continued: "how can I defend myself from the international community with the Constitution, if I violate it".
The interview passed in sharp criticism of the work of the Government of RS and of the Serb Radio-Television (SRT). "TV twice refused to publish my statements concerning current developments. And you had Seselj who had demanded resignation of the president of RS from our TV. Don't be surprised that I feel certain resistance towards SRT. I know that Mr. Seselj could not have done it without permission, because it seems that I must also have a certain permission to appear on TV. Everything that has happened is distasteful, I presume who is behind such developments on TV, I can even recognize who it could be, and since I always want to come out in the open with arguments, I just might some day say it, but believe me, this is destroying the state", said Biljana Plavsic in the interview last night.
Despite persistent attempts of the journalist to turn the conversation in the direction of "more moderate" topics, ignoring his heckling, Plavsic continued with criticism of the work of state agencies. "A little more self-control is necessary by the Prime Minister when he makes certain promises. I don't think that is done with bad intentions, because it results from his optimism. It is necessary to make a good combination, a restraint, so he would say only what he can do", explained the President, stressing that something like that disturbed the people and that the situation was too serious to allow something like that pass unnoticed.
Plavsic could not say anything nice about the place where the Government of RS was located, because she said "a Government cannot function in a single building which is smaller than an administration building of an enterprise". Answering to the question what she thought about the action of fighting grey economy, the President ironically replied that removal of small cigarette sellers from the streets was no fighting grey economy, because behind their boxes of cigarettes much more serious problems were hidden.
"You have taken pictures of their removal, but you have not taken pictures of truckloads of cigarettes which are passing through our country without paying taxes", said the President commenting that it was to say the least ridiculous and explained:
"I often travel between Pale and Banja Luka and meet trailer trucks. Let it be. But the state should get what belongs to it. It seems that somebody imagines that being a good master of the house is something else. Is somebody a good master of the house if he gets rich without paying taxes to the state? This is called something else. There are people on the territory of RS who have acquired wealth by various dishonourable actions. They became financial power wielders overnight, intellectually and morally weak to endure the burden of that money and donors of this state are nominated. This state must not have donors. That is something that is a disgrace. If they had given a contribution during the war and if they had helped at all, let us make some kind of a marble slab and write their name in gold letters and let that be the end of this state's debt to them, but let's not allow them to influence the destiny of this state".