SARAJEVO / BANJALUKA – At today’s session, the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina decided to terminate the mandate of Milorad Dodik as President of Republika Srpska, following the sentence against him by the Court of BiH.
On 1 August, the Court of BiH upheld the February decision, which sentenced Dodik to one year in prison and banned him from holding public office for six years.
Dodik was found guilty of signing, in 2023, a decree that promulgated a law previously annulled by the High Representative in BiH, Christian Schmidt.
Due to the sentence, Dodik’s presidential mandate has been terminated by the CEC. It announced that an early presidential election in Republika Srpska will be held and that the public will be informed about it in a timely manner.
Dodik has the right to appeal the decision by the CEC. He posted several times on X since this morning, one of them being “And what if I refuse?”, and another one: “Surrender is not an option”.
In yesterday’s conclusions adopted by Dodik’s party, the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), the sentence against him was rejected, and a call was issued for forming a national unity government consisting of all parliamentary parties.
So far, the main opposition parties in Republika Srpska have not taken a position regarding their potential participation in a unity government.
The Court’s ruling on 1 August was endorsed by the European Union. The European External Action Service (EEAS) stated that the decision is binding and must be respected.
The National Security Council of Serbia condemned the decision on 3 August, with President Aleksandar Vučić describing it as “political”.
