Two of nine judges at the Constitutional Court where decisions are passed by a simple majority are former senior officials of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) said Milorad Dodik, the Bosnian Serb leader and current Chairman of Bosnia's tripartite Presidency, addressing the media in Belgrade on Wednesday.

Dodik's statement came after the leading Bosniak party, SDA, announced an initiative to challenge before the Constitutional Court the name of Republika Srpska, Bosnia's Serb-dominated entity that Dodik represents. The party's leadership claims that the name is discriminatory against non-Serb population living on Republika Srpska territory.

The Serb leader assessed that such an initiative would not be in line with the Constitution and must not be submitted.

Republika Srpska, said its representative in Bosnia's Presidency, has a negative experience with the State Constitutional Court, where two of nine judges are former SDA's vice-presidents.

For years, Dodik and RS leadership have been advocating for the removal of foreign judges from the Constitutional Court who are selected from the European Court of Human Rights after consultations with Bosnia's Presidency. Three are selected in each of Bosnia's two semi-autonomous entities, Republika Srpska and Federation (FBiH).

“Decisions (at the Constitutional Court) are passed by a simple majority. Five is the majority. The Bosniaks and foreigners in that court were always passing unjust and unfair decisions. That's why we cannot allow that this initiative is submitted or discussed,” Dodik told reporters following the meeting with the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic.

An initiative to ask for the abolition of Republika Srpska's name would be the best example of the breach of the constitutional order, he added.

“Article One, Paragraph Three of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina says ‘Bosnia and Herzegovina shall consist of the two entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska’ and it was written in full name in an article of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Should you explain to a lawyer what that means?,” he said.

SDA's initiative announced earlier this month has sparked strong reactions among the Bosnian Serbs and Republika Srpska leadership, who condemned it in a joint statement and assessed that it was a direct attack on Bosnia's integrity and sovereignty.

Foreign ambassadors gathered in the Peace Implementation Council Steering Board, a body overseeing the implementation of a peace agreement that ended the 1992-95 war in Bosnia, said the initiative would be irresponsible and counterproductive.