Republika Srpska Prime Minister resigns

2026-03-16 15:53:51, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina's entity, Republika Srpska (RS), Savo Minic, has resigned from his post.

He announced his resignation during a press conference held in Banja Luka on March 16. He also said that he had consulted with the President of the Republic of Serbia, Sinisa Karan, and that he would again propose him as the candidate for the new executive.

Minic, who is a member of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, a party led by Milorad Dodik, added that he has the support of the majority in the RS People's Assembly.

He said that this step was decided in order to ensure the legality and legitimacy of the Government, adding that there are also objections from the international community, without explaining specifically what this is about.

The RS People's Assembly will consider his resignation on Monday afternoon, in a session that was called immediately after his press conference.

This is the second time in the last few months that Minic has resigned and warned that he will once again be the prime minister-designate for the formation of the Serbian entity's government.

He had previously been Minister of Agriculture in Republika Srpska and was appointed Prime Minister of the entity on September 2 last year.

The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina ruled on January 23 that this Government was unconstitutional, as it had been proposed as prime minister last August by Milorad Dodik, who at the time claimed to be the president of Republika Srpska.

According to the RS Constitution, only the entity president can nominate the prime minister, and Dodik was stripped of this position after a court ruling for disrespecting the high representative's decisions became final. The ruling bars Dodik from holding public office for six years.

A few days before the decision of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Minic resigned. He was proposed as prime minister by the then acting president of RS, Ana Triši? Babi?, and he subsequently became prime minister again.

Deputies of the Party of Democratic Action and the Democratic Front in the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina, even after this appointment, addressed the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, requesting that it be annulled.

In their complaint, among other things, they claim that the appointment of the prime minister based on the proposal of the acting president constitutes a "direct and conscious violation of the principle of the rule of law" enshrined in the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has not yet issued a decision on this matter.

Qamil Durakovic, vice president of RS, has asked the RS Constitutional Court to assess the constitutionality of the election of Trisic Babic to that position, given that the entity's Constitution does not recognize the function of acting president.

The Constitutional Court of RS on February 25 suspended the procedure for assessing the constitutionality of her appointment./REL