Dismissal of President Poplasen
The High Representative notes the opinion of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska regarding the dismissal of Mr. Poplasen. However, Mr. Poplasen’s removal was final and irrevocable. He is no longer president of Republika Srpska. Any actions he may take in the attempt to exercise the authority and privileges of his former office are invalid. The resolution of the National Assembly has no impact on the finality of the High Representative’s removal of Mr. Poplasen as it has no competence to reverse or alter this decision.
The High Representative’s authority to remove the former president derives from Annex 10 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace. The High Representative is responsible for promoting the implementation of the Dayton Agreement. Additionally, the OSCE has confirmed that the dismissal is in accordance with the Rules of the Provisional Electoral Commission and that Mr. Poplasen has consistently failed to follow the normal democratic process.
The High Representative had no alternative but to dismiss Mr. Poplasen when the former president’s willful and repeated obstruction of the work of the government impeded achievement of the goals that Republika Srpska has agreed to meet. He took this action with regret following a series of warnings to Mr. Poplasen, which were ignored.
Brcko Award
The High Representative notes the conclusions of the Republika Srpska National Assembly yesterday regarding the arbitration award for Brcko. He welcomes the decision of the Assembly to remain engaged on the interpretation and implementation of the Award. He hopes that this spirit of cooperation will extend to the members of the Common Institutions so that they can move ahead with their valuable work.
The High Representative would like to reiterate that he and Supervisor Farrand are ready to meet with the commission formed by the National Assembly to listen to their views on this important issue. He has stressed that he will support them in encouraging all international representatives involved to address their concerns and again, he hopes that this engagement will be reciprocated by the authorities in Republika Srpska and the members of the Common Institutions.
The High Representative recognises there are particular concerns about the territorial contiguity of the Republika Srpska. He has written to the Speaker of the National Assembly guaranteeing that the territory as shown on the Dayton map will remain continuous.
He would further like to stress that there is no connection between the dismissal of President Poplasen and the Brcko award. These were always separate issues and they remain so. The timing of Mr Poplasens removal was driven by his own self imposed forty eight hour deadline and the two events were coincidental.