Reporter has also managed to learn what was supposed to happen at that session but did not.
The new president promised an invitation to the inaugural session to Nikola Poplasen, the former RS president who was dismissed by BH high representative Wolfgang Petritsch [sic, actually by Carlos Westendorp], as well as the opportunity to make a farewell speech which would take Nikola Poplasen completely into RS history.
However, Poplasen was not invited to the parliamentary session, and the speech prepared for that occasion is being published exclusively by Reporter, which managed to obtain a copy of the words intended as Poplasen's swan song to RS politics.
* * * * *
Respected ladies and gentlemen, honorable national delegates,
Two years have passed since I was elected to the office of president of the republic by the voters on September 14, 1998. I assumed the duties of this office on November 5 of the same year under circumstances which were a consequence of dramatic events in The Republic of Srpska in 1997 and '98.
The result of these events was a de facto division of the republic into eastern and western parts. In the National Assembly, division and opposition reigned among the parties. Examples of open conflict were a frequent occurrence. The disunity among delegates in the Parliament was obvious and influenced the work of other state organs and the people as a whole. Little was done to bring an end to poverty and misery. The problems of refugees and displaced persons threatened to leave almost half of the population of the republic without a roof over their heads.
In the post-war years, the economy continued to deteriorate. Existing industrial capacities went almost unused. Foreign funds provided the chief means of subsistence. By decision of the Government, the republic took on credits which were frequently unfavorable. The funds thus secured were not invested in industry and it would be difficult to say that they found a legal way into the state budget.
Everything was concentrated on consumption without any basis in actual production.
Another special difficulty for political life was the fundamental destruction of relations with FR Yugoslavia and the Republic of Serbia.
As you know, after constituting the newly elected National Assembly, problems ensued during attempts to select a new government of The Republic of Srpska in accordance with constitutional procedure. Drawing a lesson from earlier events, the results of the work of the government of the former parliament and the atmosphere in it, I insisted that the new government be supported by a parliamentary majority consisting of delegates who respect the Dayton Peace Agreement and the RS Constitution.
With the exception of the Serbian Radical Party of RS, whose organs agreed to support such a government in the interests of the nation and the state without participating in it, other parties first supported such a government and then abandoned it. Positions changed during the course of recesses at parliamentary sessions. Most probably following suggestions and pressure by representatives of the so-called international community.
The parliamentary political parties behaved in a contradictory manner. Some sought Milorad Dodik's removal from office, others sought his appointment.
It will probably remain recorded as a curiosity that the same delegates, members of Radisic's Socialist Party, sought both the appointment and the removal of the same government.
My efforts to act in accordance with the Constitution and the Dayton Peace Agreement were brought into question by direct requests of representatives of certain countries, first and foremost, of the United States of America and Great Britain. They asked me to act against the interests of all nations in BH, especially of the Serbs. I understand that different nations have different interests but I am convinced that I acted rightly when I gave priority to the RS Constitution and the interests of the people who elected me, without bringing harm to the other nations in BH.
In the time that has passed, the international organizations (SFOR, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Office of the High Representative, the International Police Task Force) have committed more than 130 fundamental violations of the Dayton Peace Agreement; RS state organs also participated in this process by both commission and omission of certain actions.
The constant expansion of the powers of the international representative in RS in violation of the Dayton Agreement has created a specific situation, a combination of military occupation with a protectorate. The irresponsibility of this decision, the manipulation of their servants here and flagrant abuses of the agreement have created an atmosphere of lawlessness and anarchy. The responsibility for the failure to adequately organize internal political matters and the low standard of living was ascribed to RS state organs. Especially pathetic is the fact that these organs accepted such a role in advance, although they were regularly losers right from the start.
The result of such lifeless and servile policies by RS political organs is the loss of territorial integrity and continuity in Brcko, the unfavorable outcome of negotiations with respect to the border [with Croatia] on the Una River, the humiliating degradation and removal of functions of the RS Army, our police and other pillars of the system which represent the state-like attributes of RS. While there was still time, I warned and did everything within my power to prevent such violations. Unfortunately, as is the case for people who abandon their fatherland, even the most fundamental laws and political principles did not exist, and my efforts frequently amounted to only a cry for help. My consistent insistence on respect for the Constitution and the Dayton Peace Agreement became, in the end, the very reason why high representative Carlos Westendorp made the decision, on March 5, 1999, to dismiss the president of RS from office. That decision is invalid on the basis of the Dayton Peace Agreement, international law and common sense.
As such, it was rejected by the National Assembly on March 7, 1999. Subsequently, it is true, on July 14 of the same year, the National Assembly rejected its own decision of March 7, only to go on to decide, at the end of its term in office, on September 7, 2000 to dismiss the Government from office, thus de facto rejecting the decision from July of 1999 as well. The previous National Assembly thus demonstrated its lack of acceptance of the high representative, the president of the republic, the RS Government, and indeed, itself. Some of the delegates who voted differently several times on the same issue remain in the benches even today.
Respected ladies and gentlemen, honorable national delegates,
I want to express hope that all of you will overcome the perils of disunity. Differences, whether of an individual or a group nature, must be placed aside. All those who bear within themselves the smallest sense of patriotic responsibility toward the voters must remain with the people. This parliament, after all, is a body of the people and it must act in accordance with the people's political will. Ahead of you and ahead of all of us is a difficult time.
Behind us are irregular and undemocratic general elections. It is my conviction that they, under certain conditions, offer the necessary minimum of conditions for the survival and prosperity of RS. Within that context, I wish to emphasize several key points.
The insistence on the Dayton Peace Agreement, the Constitution and RS law should be the basic guiding principles. Regardless of whether anyone likes it or not and regardless of whether that anyone comes from RS, BH or abroad.
What has been lost through decisions and actions in violation of Dayton, must be returned into the framework of the Dayton Agreement through legal means. By this I mean the territorial integrity and autonomous state functions of the entity which are guaranteed by the Dayton Agreement. This applies first and foremost to the Republic of Srpska Army, the police, the judiciary, the education system and the media, as well as to other domains. A more daring approach should be used toward as equitable as possible a privatization process. Our own economic resources should be used, arrangements should be created which include RS in the focus of economic interest in this region. Cooperation should exist with all countries, and special attention should be devoted to cooperation with FR Yugoslavia.
In the interests of all peoples and both entities, democracy should be pursued. The first step in this direction is the urgent passing of a permanent election law and the formation of a permanent electoral commission in order to hold democratic elections as soon as possible in which the political will of the voters will be expressed.
By political and physical obstruction in work, I was prevented in carrying out these tasks which I intended to address and which I promised the people to address in accordance with my constitutional powers. In this process, the greatest harm and injury was inflicted on the voters themselves because the result of their votes was nullified.
To the president of the Republic of Srpska, Mirko Sarovic, and the vice-president of the Republic of Srpska, Dragan Cavic, I wish much success in their work. Their success is necessary to all of us and to the Republic of Srpska.
If the new president of the republic and the new government do not enjoy the support of this Assembly as defined by the Constitution, dark days await us all.
I hope that a better future is ahead of us, a future marked by actions harmonized with the interests of the voters and the constitution and legal procedure.
In this way, this parliament and all of us will rise above everyday pressures and blackmail, even by the most powerful countries in the world, and win the path of equity, freedom, dignity and advancement of our people.