Dodik usurps power after dismissal, unconstitutionally proposes new prime minister

At the same time, he announced a retaliatory blockade of the process of Bosnia and Herzegovina's EU integration.

After earlier in the week he forced the resignation of the previous Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic - which the parliament of Republika Srpska, BiH's Serb entity, approved on Friday -Milorad Dodik invited journalists to the office of the entity president in Banja Luka. There, he stated that his candidate for the new Prime Minister would be Savo Minic, the current Minister of Agriculture.

This move followed the opposition's rejection of his invitation to propose a nominee as part of creating some form of government of national unity.

Addressing reporters, Dodik promised that the new government would raise average salaries to 1,000 euros, distribute welfare benefits, secure new investments, and achieve GDP growth of 3.5 percent. He also announced the adoption of a series of laws that, as he put it, would significantly strengthen Republika Srpska, regardless of what the EU or the rest of the international community might think.

"The EU can no longer be our orientation, so I ask you to reduce all operations related to any European path," he told Minic, giving him a one-year deadline to implement his plans.

He said he hopes to receive support from the United States, specifically the administration of Donald Trump.

Dodik plans to submit his nomination to parliament and expects approval, as a majority aligned with his Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) still exists there.

However, such an appointment of a Prime Minister and government would be illegal and unconstitutional under the RS constitution, because the nominee is to be proposed exclusively by the entity president - a position currently vacant after Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Central Election Commission revoked Dodik's mandate based on a final ruling from the Court of BiH sentencing him to one year in prison for non-compliance with decisions by the international community's High Representative in BiH.

Additionally, Dodik has been banned from any public office for six years, which is part of the same ruling. By directly assuming the powers of the RS president, Dodik is violating this ban.

The Central Election Commission is expected to announce early elections for the RS president soon, but Dodik is threatening to block their implementation by refusing to allow polling stations to open.

The RS parliament, that is, the majority he controls there, has supported him in this, and at his request adopted a decision to hold a referendum on 25 October, asking voters whether the court ruling and the decision to remove Dodik should be respected.

The EU Delegation in BiH has warned that court rulings and the constitution cannot be challenged through referendums.

The Court of BiH ruling in the case against Milorad Dodik is final and binding and must be respected. Subjecting a court ruling to a public vote is contrary to the rule of law and the independence of judicial bodies, the EU Delegation in Sarajevo stated.