The Assembly of Republika Srpska voted to appoint Ana Trišić Babić, former advisor to Milorad Dodik, as acting president of that entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
She thus officially succeeded Dodik in that position, whose mandate was revoked in mid-August due to a ruling that banned him from holding public office for the next six years.
Her mandate is expected to last until November 23, when early elections for the President of the RS are scheduled.
The RS Parliament also adopted the Law on the Termination of Laws, according to which the Law on Immovable Property Used for the Functioning of Public Authorities, the Law on the Non-Application of Decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH, the RS Election Law, the Law on the Prohibition of the Activities of Extra-Constitutional Institutions of BiH, the Law on Amendments to the RS Criminal Code, and the Law on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of RS cease to be valid.
Although these laws were mostly declared invalid by the Constitutional Court of BiH, this represents a radical turn of events by the entity authorities, Radio Free Europe reports.
Among other things, for signing a law that does not apply decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH in the RS, Dodik was sentenced to one year in prison and banned from holding public office for six years.
The parliamentary majority also invalidated 12 parliamentary conclusions from December 2024, which several Western embassies described in a joint statement as "anti-Dayton".
Dodik: He will carry out tasks in accordance with the decree
Dodik, commenting in an interview for RTRS on the election of the acting president, said that the initial proposal for Željka Cvijanović to be the acting president was abandoned because of threats from Sarajevo that she would be dismissed from her position as a member of the Presidency of BiH in that case. "Then there was an option for Siniša Krana, but since he is a candidate for president, they would say that it was a premature campaign, so we said then Karan will not be either."
"That's why we agreed that it would be one of my closest associates, Ana Trišić Babić, a person who helped me and was with me at all key moments. As the acting president of Republika Srpska, she should perform that function in terms of presentation, which she has often done for me so far, and now she will perform tasks in terms of decrees on her own behalf and on behalf of the Republika Srpska. So what does the opposition have to say now? You wanted to watch Milorad Dodik from the sidelines, but you didn't succeed. I'm staying here to do my job," Dodik said, as reported by RTRS.
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