Sarajevo, 3 November 2026 – Milorad Dodik, president of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) and a leading figure in Republika Srpska, announced yesterday that his party will not take part in forming the Bosnia and Herzegovina Council of Ministers until the country’s Constitutional Court undergoes a comprehensive reform. The statement, made after a party leadership meeting in Banja Luka, frames the court’s restructuring as a prerequisite for any power‑sharing agreement at the state level.

Dodik described the demand as a “non‑negotiable point” and suggested that the SNSD’s participation in a federal government would only be possible if the court were reshaped according to his party’s proposals. The SNSD’s reform plan calls for the dismissal of all foreign judges currently serving on the nine‑member bench and for a new composition in which each of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s three constituent peoples – Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs – would have three judges. According to Dodik, this arrangement would prevent any single ethnic group from “over‑ruling” the others.

The current composition of the Constitutional Court is defined by Annex 4 of the Dayton Peace Agreement. Four judges are elected by the House of Representatives of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, two by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, and three are appointed by the President of the European Court of Human Rights after consultation with the BiH Presidency. Changing the ethnic balance of the court, as Dodik proposes, would therefore require an amendment of the Dayton framework – a step he frames as essential for “real” state functioning.

Dodik’s demands echo earlier, similarly maximalist proposals from both the SNSD and the Bosniak‑based Party of Democratic Action (SDA), which have previously submitted draft laws on the court but never secured parliamentary support. Analysts see the current ultimatum as a bargaining tactic: by setting the highest possible price on the court issue, the SNSD may seek concessions on unrelated topics, such as the appointment of RS officials to state institutions.

The background to the dispute includes a long‑standing refusal by Republika Srpska’s National Assembly to appoint two of its entitled judges, a constitutional duty that has been neglected since the retirements of Miodrag Simović and Zlatko Knežević. In December 2023, RS President Nenad Stevandić declared the court “crooked” and announced that RS would no longer nominate judges, a stance that has drawn criticism from Constitutional Court President Mirsad Ćeman, who warned that delayed appointments could undermine the court’s legitimacy.

Former BiH Presidency member Šefik Džaferović cautioned that altering the court’s ethnic composition would jeopardise the delicate balance established by the Dayton Accords, describing such a move as “impossible” without breaking the constitutional framework. He emphasized that the current system, while prone to political deadlock, also provides safeguards against unilateral ethnic vetoes.

International observers have noted the broader implications of the dispute. In May 2024, U.S. Security Council representative Tammy Bruce highlighted the BiH Constitutional Court’s decisions as evidence of the country’s stability, praising the respect shown to the court by domestic actors. By contrast, Dodik’s current push has received backing from Serbia’s former president Aleksandar Vučić, who has repeatedly criticized the court’s composition and called for the removal of foreign judges.

The SNSD’s stance places the formation of the next Council of Ministers in a stalemate. While the BiH Presidency and the Parliamentary Assembly continue routine work, Dodik’s ultimatum suggests that any agreement on a new federal cabinet will be delayed until the court issue is resolved, either through constitutional amendment, political compromise, or a shift in RS’s willingness to comply with existing appointment rules.

Sources (learn more):

klix.ba — https://klix.ba/vijesti/bih/dodik-ponovo-napada-na-ustavni-sud-zeli-li-maksimalistickim-zahtjevima-prekriti-prave-ciljeve/261103070