Decision on the Status of Brcko - Reactions

Black Friday for the Serbs

AIM Banja Luka, 6 March, 1999

For the Serbs on the left side of the Drina, 5 March was "Black Friday". First news arrived from the Office of High Representative (OHR) in Sarajevo that president of Bosnian Serb Republic (RS) Nikola Poplasen was relieved of duty by a decision of High Representative Carlos Westendorp. A few hours after that, news arrived from the same place that Brcko had been proclaimed a separate district under jurisdiction of joint institutions of B&H. In the evening the public was informed that at the emergency session of the government occasioned by the decision on Brcko, prime minister Milotrad Dodik submitted his resignation.

So many vital political developments in a single day disturbed the public. The initial reactions are marked by great disappointment, unconcealed discontent and reproach of the international community.

The decision on Brcko was the most difficult to take. According to the statement broadcast by SRNA state news agency, the decision of the arbitration commission proclaimed Brcko a district in jurisdiction of joint institutions. The joint administration will extend to include the whole prewar municipality of Brcko. The government of the district will consist of the assembly, executive board elected by the assembly, independent judiciary which will have courts of the first and the second instance, and united police which will be independent of the police of the entities.

The arbitration decision gave power to the supervisor to name a joint commission for implementation which will help it to draft the statute of the district government. The now valid laws of RS which are implemented in the part of Brcko which is part of RS, and the laws of B&H Federation implemented on the remaining territory of the former municipality of Brcko, will be implemented until regulations of the district are passed by the assembly of the district and until its supervisor ratifies them.

This piece of news was the first one on the central daily news program called Novosti. After that, the news was read about resignation of prime minister Dodik, and only after these two came the news that Poplasen was relieved from the post. The first reaction to the arbitration decision was that of prime minister Milorad Dodik. "When I took over the office last year, I made it clear that the only way to fully implement the peace accords was that Brcko remain part of RS. I promised in the name of the government that I would submit resignation if this did not happen. Regardless of the mentioned culprits for the decision, I personally feel responsible for such a decision and that is the reason why I am submitting my resignation to the National Assebly", Dodik explained his decision to resign, making it clear that his cabinet has done its best to have the Dayton accords implemented not only in Brcko but in whole of RS. Dodik also reminded of the fact that respectable results were achieved despite numerous obstructions put to him and the government since elections last September.

"The decision to declare Brcko a separate district and to introduce in this way a new category in B&H which does not exist in the Dayton accords is now creating a completely new political and territorial reality", concluded prime minister Dodik in his explanation of his decision to resign. "It is a big question whether after such a decision RS exists at all", Petar Djokic, chairman of the National Assembly of RS, briefly expressed his stand. "This is the third entity in B&H and the fundamental thesis of the Dayton accords has been destroyed", declared Ognjen Tadic, spokesman of the Serb Radical Party, quoting provisions of the Dayton accords on two entities and provisions of the Constitution of RS on territorial integrity.

These two statements of politically most responsible officials of RS will be the axis of political and legal contestation of the decision of the Arbitration tribunal. Legal experts have so far agreed in their interpretations that the Dayton accords did not prescribe the possibility of such a decision on Brcko. Supporters of the theory that the international community has for a long time ago disregarded and overstepped the limits of the Dayton accords will find yet another stronghold of their thesis in the decision on Brcko and continue to spread the stories about the split of RS in two and international conspiracy against the Serbs.

Tha Radicals are the loudest among the first reactions. "We do not recognise the arbitration decision, we will demand that the assembly reject the decision, along with the decision on removal of president Poplasen. We demand that the relevant state institutions proclaim Carlos Westendorp and Robert Gelbard persons not acceptable in RS", declared Mirjana Dejanovic, deputy of this party. The Radicals appealed on the citizens of Banja Luka "to offer resistance to undemocratic and fascist actions of the international occupational forces" (Dane Brankovic, deputy in the city assembly of Banja Luka). In the streets of Banja Luka, the journal of the Serb Radical Party was distributed at the same time (Velika Srbija /Great Serbia/) with two special leaflets with the following text printed of them: "Rise Banja Luka! Resist fascism and Westendorp. We shall not be slaves. For Serb Brcko". Protests of the Radicals in Bijeljina and the eastern part of RS announce serious threats. News arrived from Lopari that yesterday SFOR killed Krsto Micic, vice president of the municipal board of Serb Radical Party.

On that same day, at its press conference, Serb Coalition for RS called Serb representatives to abandon the joint administration and demanded that supervisor Robert Farrand leave Brcko.

On the internal political level, the arbitration decision could produce many unpredictable consequences because it coincided with the discharge of the president of the Republic. The resignation of the prime minister whose remainder at the head of the government was persistently and at any cost insisted on, is the first unexpected counterattack which further complicated the situation caused by dismissal of Poplasen. On the same day Republika Srpska was left without its president and prime minister. For the public and legal experts, the question arises who will take over the duty of the president of the Republic? Vice-president Mirko Sarovic declared that he did not wish to do it because "relieving the president of duty was unconstitutional and undemocratic". According to the Constitution, vice-president of the Republic discharges the duties of the president just in case of his absence and when the president authorises him to do it, so from the legal aspect, the question arises whether the vice-president does it in case he is relieved of duty? Legal confusion also imposes the question of nomination of the new candidate for prime minister if the nominated candidate Petar Djokic returns the mandate?

President Poplasen has announced scheduling of a referendum on confidence in response to the decision of the High Representative. However, Westendorp's decision has come into force at the moment it was reached, so Poplasen has no power whatsoever any more. All further decisions are in the jurisdiction of the National Assembly. Things can develop in two directions. After Westendorp's decision, only the National Assembly can schedule elections for president of the Republic and decide who will replace the relieved Poplasen. It is useless to discuss the resignation of the prime minister because pursuant the Constitution the government in any case continues to operate until the election of the new one.

Therefore, in this political tangle, two key issues remain open: election of the president of the Republic and election of its prime minister. The already nominated candidate for prime minister Petar Djokic must make the next move. His manoeuvres were linked to the decision on the status of Brcko. A source close to the political leadership of Harmony coalition claims that in talks with representatives of the international community, one possibility was left on the table: Brcko remains in Republika Srpska and Dodik will be the prime minister. If not, other combinations will be introduced in the game. If this is true, Harmony is faced with a serious test: it will either split or enter a patriotic coalition with the Serb Democratic Party and the Radicals.

Regardless of political development of the internal situation, the international community and High Representative will be targets of criticism because of the mentioned decisions. Even those who have so far restrained themselves from criticising the international community or even offered support to it, are now expressing their disappointment by asking why did those who had cooperated best with the international community - Biljana Plavsic and prime minister Milorad Dodik - have to leave the political scene.

Branko Peric

(AIM)