Bosnian Serb Coalition May Lose its Majority

The European Integration and Regional Cooperation Board of the assembly in Republika Srpska - Bosnia's mainly Serbian entity - rejected two draft laws on Monday that the assembly was due to debate on Tuesday.

Trade unions and NGOs claimed the two draft laws on public gatherings and non-proft organisations aimed to further increase political control in the entity.

The draft law on public gatherings aimed to prevent assemblies near government buildings and allow police to determine where public meetings should take place. Trade unions in the entity said it violated constitutional and fundamental human rights on freedom of expression and movement, and was an attempt to stifle future public protests.

Despite public criticism, the two draft laws were up for debate in the entity parliament on Tuesday, until the Board for European Integration and Regional Cooperation rejected both draft laws on Monday.

Republika Srpska premier Zeljka Cvijanovic brushed off the setback, saying the rejection of these two drafts had nothing to do with public criticism of the laws or with the stability of the ruling coalition; they just needed better formulating.

However, the rejection of the two draft laws is widely seen as a sign of a growing weakness in the coalition, led by the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, SNSD.

After the October 2014 general elections Milorad Dodik's SNSD barely managed to establish a new government in Republika Srpska, and only did so with the aid of two MPs it lured from other parties.

This issue still remains a focus of investigation by the courts. The two MPs, from the Advance Srpska party, last week announced they were withdrawing from the ruling coalition until the issue was...