Eurasia Press & News
Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik confirmed media rumours that personnel changes within the Serb-led Bosnian entity’s government are imminent.Dodik announced on Sunday that in the next couple of days he will talk to Republika Srpska’s Prime Minister Aleksandar Dzombic about the reshuffle and that it will all be finalised within seven to ten days.
Although top officials from the entity’s leading party, the Union of Independent Social Democrats, SNSD, had been attempting to deny media reports of an impending reshuffle, Dodik said that four to five ministers would be replaced by new faces.
“I think there is a readiness to resolve problems in quite a civilised and friendly way and to give new strength to the government,” said Dodik.
The announcement of the reshuffle comes amid continuing economic woes and high unemployment in Republika Srpska.
It is still unclear if Dodik will ask for Dzombic’s replacement. The resignation or dismissal of the prime minister would mean that the entire cabinet must also resign, according to the entity’s legislation.
The SNSD, which is also led by Dodik, holds 37 of the 83 seats in the entity’s assembly. Its governing coalition partners, the Democratic People’s Alliance and the Socialist Party of Republika Srpska, hold six and two seats respectively.
Dodik stressed that the coalition itself would not change. He said if any of the SNSD’s coalition partners wanted to change their own ministerial line-ups, that was “their problem”.
Currently the SNSD holds 12 positions in the government, while the two coalition partners have two ministries each. Another minister comes from the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Republika Srpska’s national assembly elected the entity’s government in December 2010, after general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina in October that year.
