| CROAT RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (18,00 hrs) | BH TV 1 (19,00 hrs) | FED TV (19,30 hrs) | RT RS (19,30) |
| More than 2000 BiH police officers participated in the operation of search for stolen vehicles | Commission, supervised by OHR, to prepare laws for establishment of PDV | Storage of anti-hydride near Lukavac – possible connection with discovered drug factory in Serbia | Protests against privatisation of power sector |
| Muslims begin with celebration of Kurban Bajram – 14 persons died during pilgrimage to Meka | BiH is transit for dangerous materials | Director of Benevolence International Arnaut promises to cooperation with US prosecutors | Head of European Commission met Mirko Sarovic |
| BiH Presidency Member Dragan Covic visited Rama, High Representative Ashdown Kiseljak | Due to Iraq, crisis in NATO gets serious | Muslims around the world begin with celebration of Kurban Bajram | Hays: BiH needs single VAT and custom administration |
| SFOR impolitely treats Croat officials in Glamoc, claims President of the Glamoc HDZ | Muslims celebrate great holiday – Kurban Bajram | Due to fight for power, Muslims are today at the bottom of global development, warns Mustafa Efendija Ceric | OHR comments agreement between RS and Serbia |
| Oslobodjenje | Potocari Memorial Centre: Killers are building the monument to Srebrenica victims; Police operation in Tuzla – chemical substances for making heroin seized; Construction of churches in Sarajevo – Cardinal did not tell the truth |
| Dnevni Avaz | Drug channel cut near Lukavac; Paddy Ashdown in Trnovo – They hope a carpet factory will be re-started |
| Dnevni List | This week establishment of commission for joint customs and state VAT: Mladen Ivanic does not understand complexity of VAT; Manager of Ljubuski vine cellar withdraws lawsuit against his workers |
| Vecernji List | Liaison officer to The Hague Goran Mihaljevic claims: Halilovic before The Hague in April; B. Knezovic murder: Suspect Sanja Vuleta in detention for 30 days; Ashdown: Without unified customs there are no foreign investments |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Glamoc under siege: SFOR detains HDZ leaders for photographing; Sefer Halilovic did not cut deal with The Hague |
| Glas Srpski | Kosovo: They teach children about terrorism; Railways as OHR target: Arbitrariness chugs along railways |
| Nezavisne Novine | Milan Ninkovic, SDS member of the RSNA on the sale of the Privredna Banka Doboj – “Ivanic, Vracar and Vilendecic blackmailed Slobodan Pavlovic”; Prime Minister Mikerevic asks for Minister Vilendecic’s Resignation; Criminal charges laid by Federation MUP against three people for bringing in matter for the production of 200 tons of heroin; EFT building a tunnel for RS Elektroprivreda near Bileca – Job Overpaid by five million dollars;Muslim faithful celebrate Bajram – a holiday of peace, love and truth |
| Blic | State owes 1.2 billion KM to depositors; Ashdown prepares to impose single customs and VAT; More and more false Euros in RS and Federation |
Crimes/affairs | |
| Oslobodjenje: ‘Killers are building monument to Srebrenica victims’ | Oslobodjenje front page, pgs. 4-5 ‘Murderers are building the monument to the Sreberenica victims’ – The workers and trucks of the Drina Company from Zvornik, RS, and a bulldozer of the certain Rato from Pale have been engaged in building the Potocari Memorial Centre, according to Ibran Mustafic, a member of the Potocari Commission. “Those who were killing the residents of Srebrenica are nowadays earning money on their burial,” Mustafic said. |
| Grug smuggling/production channel cut near Lukavac | Dnevni Avaz front page, pg 8 ‘Drug channel cut near Lukavac’, Oslobodjenje pg. 19, mentioned on the front page ‘Chemical substances sufficient to produce 200 tons of heroin’ – The BiH Federation and the Tuzla Canton police officers found in a store-house in Lukavac more than 34,000 kilos of the chemical substances for the production of heroin. |
| Mikerevic Asks for Minister Vilendecic’s Resignation | “Nezavisne Novine” page 5 – Prime Minister Mikerevic requested RS Minister of Finance Simeun Vilendecic to resign. Mikerevic decided to take this step after the RS Prosecutor’s office began investigations into the sale of the Privredna Banka Doboj, and the Supreme Auditor’s office received a request for an audit. As we learned last night from the RS Ministry of Finance, Simeun Vilendecic has already written his letter of resignation which he was meant to hand in to the Prime Minister during the course of the day yesterday. RS Public Prosecutor Jovan Spajic, last week requested the RS MUP to speak with all individuals involved in the disputable sale, and also asked the Supreme Auditor to do an audit of the sale of the Doboj bank. Minister Vilendecic claimed he knew nothing about the questionable transaction, while representatives of Pavlovic confirmed that the transaction was agreed to December 17th last year in Vilendecic’s office. |
| “Ivanic, Vracar and Vilendecic Blackmailed Slobodan Pavlovic” | Nezavisne Novine, page 5 – Interview with Milan Ninkovic, SDS member of the RSNA on the sale of the Privredna Banka Doboj – Vracar, Vilendecic and Ivanic are a well-known trio. Vracar, regardless of how powerful he is, cannot do anything without the Ministry of Finance. No one from Doboj blackmailed Pavlovic. That was done in Banja Luka. If we didn’t kick up a fuss in Doboj, all of this would have passed without notice says Nikolic. One can agree with him or clash with him, but no one can argue with the fact that he is the absolute authority in the Doboj region. His party colleagues say he is hot-headed and that anything he thinks about you he immediately tells you to your face. Milan Ninkovic, SDS member of the RSNA is like that, even when it comes to his party colleagues. Ninkovic was the first to speak publicly about the sale of the Privredna Banka Doboj for one Euro, but the journalists who are financed by the RS government who attended his press conference, as Pavlovic claims, did not report a word of what he said. He was the first to speak openly about the happenings at the Modrica oil refinery. “Milan Jelic is a successful businessman who last year created a profit of three million. The municipal SDS in Doboj didn’t support him, but only his work. Jelic was named Manager of the Year. We are against the removal of successful businessmen in order to secure the livelihood of party candidates, regardless of what party they belong to” says Ninkovic. |
| Grounds for an Investigation Exist | “Nezavisne Novine”, page 4 – RS Suprement Auditor Bosko Ceko, says that the RS Public Prosecutor has more than enough material to begin an investigation into the sale of the Privredna Banka Doboj, without an audit by his office. He stated that he is currently busy working on the revision of last year’s budget. According to Ceko, a review of the procedure of the sale of the Privredna Banka Doboj will be done when the audit of the Ministry of Finance is conducted, that will include a review of the sale of banks from last year. |
| Job Overpaid by Five Million Dollars | “Nezavisne Novine”, page 3 – In earlier studies that were done, it was foreseen that the investor would received 20 million dollars at the most, but after EFT bid on the tender, the price went up to 25 million. Paying EFT would be realize through a long-term obligation of exporting electricity from the RS. British company “Energy Financing Team” last year from Elektroprivreda RS received the job of constructing a tunnel near Bileca for the unreasonably high price of 25 million dollars, “Nezavisne” learned from circles close to the management of RS Elektroprivreda. In this way, EFT who has exclusive rights to export electricity from the RS, got one more job in the Republika Srpska for a considerably higher price than what the experts valued it at. “Nezavisne’s” source claims that “In studies done previously, it was foreseen that the investor should be paid 20 million dollars at the most, but after EFT bid on the tender, the price went up to about 25 million. Payment to EFT would by done through a long-term obligation for the export of electricity from the RS to that company, which includes the controversial Vuk Hamovic from Belgrade in its management. The work was originally started by the “Konstruktor” company from Split, who did half the work before the war in BiH started. As we learned, talks were held with“Konstruktor” a few years back and they agreed to complete the job for 20 million dollars. |
International community/OHR | |
| The High Representative visits Trnovo, Kiseljak
| Dnevni Avaz pg. 5, mentioned on the front page ‘Unemployed Bosniaks and Serbs hope the carpet factory will be re-started” – The return of the refugees to Trnovo is going well, inter-ethnic relations are good, but the life in the municipality divided on a Federation and a RS part is extremely difficult since the Trnovo economic entities have been frozen for a long time. This is a common impression by Aljo Bjelica and Janja Krleta from the Trnovo village of Podbasic who were visited by the High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, on Tuesday. Before Trnovo, Ashdown yesterday visited Kiseljak where he met with the managers of the Sarajevo’s Kiseljak Company and exchange views about the Bulldozer initiative. Oslobodjenje pg. 3 ‘Sarajevo’s Kiseljak is a good example for BiH’ carries FENA news agency report on the Ashdown’s visit to Kiseljak. Three CRO dailies carry a report on the visit of the High Representative for BiH, Paddy Ashdown, to Kiseljak (Dnevni List, pg. 17 “High Representative in Kiseljak”, Fena, Slobodna Dalmacija, last page, “Lack of financial discipline breaks all investment efforts” and Vecernji List, front page, by M. Jukic, “Ashdown: Without unified customs there will be no foreign investments” and page 2, “‘Sarajevski Kiseljak’ as a role model”). All dailies carry HR’s praises to the “Sarajevski Kiseljak” company and his message that in 2-3 years economic situation has to be regulated, therefore it is important that an attention is drawn to successful examples. In order to solve problems to which representatives of “Kiseljak” complained about (economic subjects not paying taxes, imitation of their product), HR again emphasized need for establishment of VAT and unified customs and said ‘economic reform is the first and the most important matter which I will tackle in the next 6 months’. Mayor of Kiseljak Municipality Ivica Udovicic expressed his conviction that the OHR and other IC institutions will help Kiseljak, which is at the top of implementation of property laws in BiH. |
| OHR on the agreement between RS and Serbian customs administrations | Oslobodjenje pg. 3 ‘OHR on the agreement between RS, Serbian customs administrations – Cooperation should be spread on the entire BiH’ – The OHR welcomes the decisiveness of the RS and Serbian authorities to cooperate in fight against crime, and particularly against money laundering, according to OHR Spokesman Oleg Milisic. However, Milisic told journalists in Sarajevo on Tuesday that the agreement on the issue could not go into effect until it is approved by the BiH Parliamentary Assembly. “Nezavisne Novine”, page 6, Glas Srpski pg. 2 headline ‘To spread cooperation also report on the issue. |
| SFOR Checking Former Municipal Authorities and HDZ in Glamoc | “Nezavisne Novine”, page 3 – President of the Municipal Board of the HDZ Marko Damjanovic stated yesterday that members of the Canadian SFOR battalion are conducting “unpleasant activities” in this municipality against former Croat and HDZ political authorities. Two days ago, members of SFOR held a number of HDZ members for ninety minutes in a garage, including former mayor of Glamoc municipality, Ivan Damjanovic. Their height, weight and colour of hair were noted, and photographs were taken of the detainees” Damjanovic said on Radio Studio N in Livno. According to him, the commander of SFOR in Glamoc does not wish to give an official response why these activities are being conducted. The HDZ Presidency will hold a special meeting to discuss the issue. He added that SFOR is guarding the police building in Glamoc where the office of the current mayor is located. Slobodna Dalmacija (front and page 13, by Frano Mioc, “SFOR detains HDZ leaders for photographing”) also reports that SFOR has increased its presence in Glamoc and that one of SFOR activities in the area is taking photographs of former Croat i.e. HDZ leaders in the Glamoc area. |
| US Ambassador Bond on “Orao affair” | Dnevni list (page 6, “To establish political responsibility for “Orao” affair”) carries statements of the US Ambassador to BiH, Clifford Bond, who in the context of recent hearings of “Orao” officials at the Bijeljina court stated that the Orao affair is a clear violation of UN resolution, even more so since the RS authorities admitted its involvement. He said that the US wants to find who is politically responsible, whereas SFOR is responsible for the analysis of the report. US Ambassador also expressed his expectations that the BiH will support and understand what is motivating the US and its allies to remove Saddam Hussein from power. “I hope that we will be able to avoid military conflict, but in the case of war, we will not ask for military help from BiH”, concluded Bond. |
| Nedeljni Telegraf on Ashdown | Nedeljni Telegraf pg. 2 (headline ‘Ashdown claims: Sarovic and Mandic are seeing General Mladic’) reports that the High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, does not hide his dissatisfaction over the fact that Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic are still at large. In his official talks with SaM (Serbia and Montenegro) and RS officials, contrary to diplomatic practice, as a source from Federal Ministry of foreign Affairs told NT, Ashdown was very blunt saying that “non-cooperation with the Hague Tribunal will cost both Serbia and RS a lot”. Ashdown claimed that Chairman of BiH Presidency Mirko Sarovic and businessman Momcilo Mandic “are secretly seeing General Mladic”, that intelligence services had proofs for that and that was the contrary to what RS representatives were saying. The NT’s source says that Ashdown threatened “that will not be tolerated anymore”, saying that “Sarovic and Mandic have regular contacts with leadership of one of the strongest political parties in Serbia”. Ashdown told that all persons that help the Hague indictees would be forbidden to enter the EU countries. As he explained, it would be something similar to what had been done during Milosevic’s regime. |
Economic reforms | |
| Ashdown establishes a Commission to deal with tax, customs reform
| Dnevni Avaz pg. 4 ‘Ashdown announces introduction of VAT, customs at the state level’ – The High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, will today announce a decision on the introduction of VAT and customs administration at the state level. The press conference to be organized on the occasion in the OHR building in Sarajevo will also be attended by US Ambassador Clifford Bond, Ambassador Michael Humphries of the EC Delegation in BiH, and a representative of the Greek Embassy, on behalf of the Presidency of the European Union. “The High Representative will announce a decision on the establishment of a Commission which will work on the introduction of VAT and customs at the state level. His decision will also define principles of the body’s work,” Chief OHR Spokesman Julian Braithwaite told Dnevni Avaz. Oslobodjenje pg 6 ‘Ashdown establishes a Commission’ carries a statement on the issue by OHR Spokesman Oleg Milisic from the Tuesday’s press conference in Sarajevo. Glas Srpski pg. 3 headline ‘Customs’ commission’; Blic pg. 7 headline ‘For beginning, Ashdown forms commission’ also carry Milisic’s statement on the issue.“Nezavisne Novine”, page 6 – Braithwaite says that the Commission will be made up of two people each from the RS, the Federation and domestic institutions, while the President of the Commission will be a representative of the international community in BiH. The High Representative did not wish to give details on the formation of this commission, but said that political consensus on the introduction of VAT did exist in BiH. “There will be disagreement on the technical process, but I think agreement has been reached regarding the introduction of VAT and a single Customs Service. However, agreement has not been reached on a unified administration and now we have to work on resolving that issue. The deadlines are clear, that is mid-February and if it isn’t done by then, the way to Europe for BiH will be blocked. This means that the possibility exists that BiH could lose 60 million Euro, which would mean all citizens of this country would suffer. So I cannot allow anyone to put a veto on such a decision” said Ashdown. Dnevni List (front and page 3, unsigned, “Mladen Ivanic does not understand complexity of VAT”) carries an OHR spokesperson, Oleg Milisic, as saying that the High Representative for BiH, Paddy Ashdown, will this week appoint a commission of experts, which will consist of representatives of entities and state authorities and led by the IC, that will work on a legal framework and rule-book on establishment of unified customs administration for BiH and VAT at the State level. “I want to stress that these reforms do not cut revenues to the entities. In fact, by abolition of frauds, these reforms could in the end bring more money to the entities (…) These reforms are not started in order to centralize BiH, they are started to make sure that hundreds of million KMs of customs and tax revenues end up in pockets of citizens instead of criminals”. Milisic also commented a statement by BiH Foreign Minister, Mladen Ivanic, who stated that collection of VAT revenues into a single account presents a change to the BiH Constitution, by saying the statement was not true because only administrative changes would be required. Milisic also said that the IC considered experiences of other countries, like for instance Belgium that also has a weak administrative system based on autonomous entities. In that context, Milisic says the Belgian Foreign Ministry clearly stated that divided system of collection of taxes would not work, the reason why Belgium has a single VAT.On the same issue, Vecernji List (page 4, by Zdenko Jurilj, “State customs and economic collapse of RS”) carries the Head of RS Treasury, Zarko Mijonic, as saying: “Just like in the case of introduction of VAT, we believe that establishment of customs at State level, the RS could weaken economically and lose competence recognized in the DPA. We express concern that everything is done in order to weaken the Serb entity in BiH”. VL goes on to say that the OHR is ready to simply impose a law on unified customs for which the OHR has the total authority. |
| Fierce OHR reaction to Ivanic’s statements – Whose interests protects Ivanic? | Dnevni Avaz pg. 4 ‘Whose interests protects Ivanic?’ – Reacting to the latest statements by Mladen Ivanic, the BiH Foreign Minister, with regard to the introduction of VAT and customs at the state level, the OHR says the good of all BiH citizens and not only narrow political groups should be in the focus of his interest. “Ivanic is, among the RS politicians, the loudest opponent to the introduction of VAT and customs at the state level. He believes that one system can be made of two administrations that will be unify through a body regulating things at the state level (through a single information system and harmonized tax rates). However, we maintain that this would just a bit more that the status quo,” said Julian Braithwaite, the Chief OHR Spokesman. |
| Sarajevo economic experts analysing what will VAT bring to BiH | Oslobodjenje pg.6 ‘VAT unifies economy’ – The leading economic experts from the Sarajevo University’s School of Economy agree that if the state law on VAT is not adopted in BiH, the country’s economic space remains divided. “The law on VAT must be adopted at the state level, as money as so far may be collected by the entities,” said Sead Kreso, the director of the School’s Economic Institute, who had conducted a research how VAT would affect BiH economy. The results of the research were presented in the BiH Federation Chamber of Commerce, with OHR’s opposition. “The OHR requested to see the analysis before its public presentation,” the Chamber’s Chairman, Jago Lasic, said. |
| Sarovic meets EC’s Humphreys | Vecernji List (page 3, FENA, “Sarovic and Humphreys on EU”) reports that the Chair of BiH Presidency, Mirko Sarovic, yesterday received the Head of EC delegation to BiH, Michael Humphreys, when the two talked about reforms to customs system and introduction of VAT. VL says Humphreys informed Sarovic that an annual Report on stabilization and accession, which will show the level of advance BiH has made on road to EU, will be ready by end March. (Dnevni List, page 4, by S. K., “Working on legal solutions regarding customs and VAT”, Slobodna Dalmacija, back page, by FENA, “How to reform customs system”) |
| Mikerevic on single customs and VAT | RS Prime Minister Dragan Mikerevic said on Tuesday that he did not know anything about ‘some meetings’ between RS and Federation representatives, but that the RS Government had ‘hot line’ on Monday with the international community. “The RS Government is of the opinion that solutions to the introduction of VAT and customs reforms in BiH must be sought within BiH and RS Constitutions and European standards,” Mikerevic said. (Glas Srpski pg. 3 headline ‘Tax’) |
| USAID holds a presentation about the privatization of the RS electrical energy sector | “Nezavisne Novine”, page 3 – Merritt Brody says that no foreign investor will buy a company which has no management action plan and said that the RS government had already committed to this some years back. The entire process of privatizing the RS Elektroprivreda should be completed in five years time, said Brody, Director of USAID, yesterday in Banja Luka. At the presentation on the advantages of reconstructing and privatizing the electrical energy sector in the RS, Brody said they expect the RS government to make a decision on the privatization of the majority of Elektroprivreda’s capital. |
Other developments | |
| Exhumations of Mass Graves in April
| “Nezavisne Novine”, page 6 – The Tuzla office of the Federal Missing Persons Commission plans on starting exhumations of mass graves in April located in the municipalities of Zvornik, Vlasenica, Bratunac and Srebrenica. “This commission estimates that the remains of approximately 1,000 people could be exhumed from these four locations” said head of the Tuzla office, Murat Hurtic. “The first exhumation will be done in the Vlasenica municipality. It is a secondary grave which we believe contains the remains of 200 people killed in Vlasenica in May and June of 1992” said Hurtic. The remains of 4,000 people have been exhumed since 1996 in the region that comes under the Tuzla office of the Federal Missing Persons Commission, while it is estimated that there are 8,000 – 10,000 that remain to be exhumed. |
| 419 Police Completed Police Academy | “Nezavisne Novine”, page 6 – Spokesperson for the RS MUP, Zoran Glusac, said that so far five classes have graduated from the Banja Luka Police Academy or 419 police. He said that 99 Serbs have graduated – 68 men and 31 women, 286 Bosniaks – 241 men and 45 women, and 25 Croats – of which 19 were men and 6 were women. Nine “others” also graduated, of which 7 are men and 2 are women. |
Political affairs/statements | |
| VL: “New Federation Government on Friday?”
| Vecernji List (page 3, by Z. K.) reports that the Federation Parliament’s House of Representatives should sit on Friday and appoint the new Federation Government which will be led by SDA’s Ahmed Hadzipasic. According to VL, all the ministerial candidates had to be confirmed by the OHR and in that context, VL says 14 out of 15 ministers got the green light from the OHR. VL says HDZ candidate for the office of Defence Minister, Slavko Marin, has been rejected and according to VL sources a new HDZ candidate for the office will be known by Thursday. Commenting on numerous decision by the outgoing, technical Government, Federation President, Niko Lozancic, says: “The outgoing Government in the technical mandate has behaved in the last few months as if it did not know the election results and that it was in the technical mandate. I will order that the new Government reviews all the decisions of the Government in the technical mandate”. |
| SD: Interview with Mostar-Duvno Bishop Ratko Peric | Slobodna Dalmacija (page 15, “Dayton is a monster”) continues the interview with Bishop Ratko Peric on the position of Croats in BiH. Asked to comment his, especially condemned by many IC politicians, support to the Croat Self-rule, Bishop Peric said that he was in principle supporting affirmation of rights and freedoms of Croats, regardless of how politicians will make it happen. Bishop claims that the Church very strictly makes a distinction into which matters they are to interfere (moral principles) and in which not. He does not want to recognize that the Dayton gave birth to BiH, he says that this country existed before, and absurdly it gave birth to the Dayton monster. Bishop Peric does not blame Dayton for displacement of people, but mostly for lack of conditions for return. “If Croats have their legal-political unit, call it as you wish, they would not have allowed that the IC shamefully reduces them to the status of neither people nor minority”. |
| Oslobodjenje’s Kebo on Ivanic | Oslobodjenje ‘Minister of his own entity’ commentary on pg. 2 by Amra Kebo – heavy criticism of BiH Foreign Minister Ivanic. Selects several of his statement that prove that Ivanic is a minister of his own entity only and that national interests are the way of his thinking. According to Kebo, the latest Ivanic’s controversial moves include: his statement to SENSE that Serbia and Montenegro will probably sue the Federation or BiH soon for expelling Serbs during the war; a lack of his reaction when he was recently presented in a Belgrade TV show as the RS and not BiH Foreign Minister; and his statement in the same show that the problem was lack of BiH and RS’ cooperation with the Hague. Kebo concludes Ivanic is a prototype of politicians that put us in the miserable position we are currently in. |
| Law on Railways | Who and why wants to put the RS and Federation railways on one gauge called Law on Railways in BiH? There is no doubt who has sent the draft law on railways in BiH to the RS Government – the answer is OHR! It is evident that the goal must be achieved by arbitrary pass ‘on red signal’ – namely, advisor in the RS Ministry of Traffic and Communications, Zdravko Krsmanovic, whom OHR spokesperson Mario Brkic marked as a RS representative in the working group for drafting law, says that is pure fabrication. “That is not true, I have not participated in any law’s drafting, nor anyone else from the RS Government has anything to do with that,” Krsmanovic says. That rejects OHR’s claims that the draft law is “a child’ of the working group in which Krsmanovic represented the RS, and which was leaded by EBRD. Krsmanovic says that as a representative of Ministry for Traffic and Communication he participated in talks on improving Joint Public Corporation of BiH Railways’ work. And he claims that the draft law was not mentioned during these talks. But, only six days after the meeting, OHR sent the draft law. Krsmanovic says that he has carefully read the draft law and his only comment on that is: Law on Railways in BiH is unnecessary. Is this another arbitrary attempt to centralise everything? (text box: Rail traffic is regulated by Annex 9 of DPA. In line with it, the RS and Federation railways have been established, as well as Joint Public Corporation. The structure of railway sector in BiH has been recognised by most European countries.) (Glas Srpski pg. 1 headline ‘Arbitrariness chugs along railways’) |
| Reactions on Tomljenovic’s statement | The SDS sees the announcements made by Ivan Tomljenovic, vice president of the RS, that he would launch the initiative for a change of the constitutionally defined position and authority of the president of the RS, as a serious attack on the constitutional organization of the RS and its position within BiH, which has been defined by the Dayton accords. The statement the party has issue says that the attempts made by Vice President Tomljenovic and his mentors from the SDP to create a three-member presidency of the RS is unacceptable to the SDS for the same reasons that such attempts have been rejected in the discussion of the adoption of amendments to the RS Constitution. The PDP, as its spokesperson Igor Crnadak says, thinks that such an initiative is unacceptable, since that the Constitution clearly defines rights and obligations of president and vice-presidents of the Republic. “We do not consider it as the statement of RS vice-president, but as a fruit of political affiliation of Mr. Tomljenovic, which is not in line with the function he holds since that he is a vice-president of all RS citizens,” Crnadak says. (Nacional pg. 11 ‘Fruit of political affiliation of Tomljenovic’) |
| Law on RTRS | The Law on RTRS that was imposed by former High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch in May 2002, will be soon discussed by the RS National Assembly. “The obligation of the RS National Assembly is to adopt the law in the same form in which the High Representative imposed it. He was very clear on that, as well as that he would not permit direct political interfering in work of this public broadcaster,” Sonja Pastuovic, OHR Banja Luka’s spokesperson, says. Therefore, the RS National Assembly will have to adopt it without any changes, amendments and conditions. (Nacional pg. 11 ‘Petritsch’s law although imposed is in circulation ‘) |