RS parliament adopts referendum law

Source: Beta

BANJA LUKA -- The Republic of Srpska (RS) parliament has voted to approve the draft Law on Referendum. 46 MPs voted in favor, 16 were against, while six abstained. The referendum question, related to the Dayton Agreement, will be determined later. The results of the referendum, according to the new law, will not be obligatory for the government. Speaker Igor Radojičić concluded the discussion on the draft in Banja Luka earlier this Wednesday, and the session was then continued with a discussion on the bill drafted to amend the law on defining RS citizenship. Bosniak (Muslim) MPs who left the session yesterday after their proposal to withdraw the Law on Referendum was rejected, today returned to the hall for the discussion on the amendments to the Law on Citizenship started. RS Prime Minister Milorad Dodik stated that the adoption of the Law on Referendum was not the first step toward the secession of the Serb entity in Bosnia, that the proposed law was a reflection of RS' constitutional right to arrange that area, and that it was not contrary to the Dayton Peace Accords.