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Lawmakers in Republika Srpska, the Serb-majority entity that is part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, have passed new law that could undermine the country’s constitution.
The Law on Medical Equipment and Medicines – adopted by the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska on October 20 – provides for the formation of the Regional Agency for Medical Equipment and Medicines as an “independent administrative organization” with the “Status of a legal person. “
The new body would essentially take over the powers and responsibilities of the National Agency for Medical Equipment and Drugs, a federal agency created in 2009.
Bosnia and Herzegovina as a state consists of two entities formed after the 1992-95 war: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina with predominantly Muslims and Croats and the Republika Srpska with predominantly Bosnian Serbs.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s constitution prohibits one of the country’s two entities from creating an agency that undermines federal bodies.
The parliament’s decision comes as federal prosecutors launched an investigation into Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik for “undermining constitutional order” after announcing that Republika Srpska would soon withdraw from the country’s joint army, from its supreme judicial body and the tax administration.
He said several expert groups were working on drafting the new constitution and the Serbian entity’s laws on defense, justice and finance.
Dodik has repeatedly called for the secession of Bosnian Serbs’ lands from the rest of Bosnia, which he called “an experiment of the international community” and “an impossible and imposed country”.
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