Karadzic Daughter Set for Senior Bosnian Serb Job

Sonja Karadzic-Jovicevic, who is already a MP in the Republika Srpska entity's parliament, has been tipped for its vice-presidency by the Serb Democratic Party, SDS, which was founded by her father.

"The Serb Democratic Party has formally asked to nominate Sonja Karadzic-Jovicevic for the position of vice-president of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, which according to the rules of procedure belongs to the main opposition party of the entity," SDS media advisor Jelena Dabarcic told BIRN.

Srdjan Puhalo, a political analyst from Banja Luka, said that although Karadzic-Jovicevic would not have serious influence, her appointment would be significant.

"The vice-presidents of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska don't have great power, except for the fact that they preside over sessions when the president is absent," Puhalo told BIRN.

"However, this position has still a really big symbolic importance," he said.

Karadzic-Jovicevic, born in 1967 in Sarajevo, worked as the head of her father's press centre in the Serb stronghold of Pale during the war.

After the arrest of Karadzic on war crimes and genocide charges in 2008, she continued to defend his innocence, claiming that the Hague Tribunal was just "a NATO disciplinary commission", and calling Srebrenica massacres "a fabricated tale".

She has been an SDS MP in the Republika Srpska parliament since October 2014.

The vice-presidency of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska is currently held by Nenad Stevandic, who was formerly a member of SDS before joining a new grouping called the Free Democratic Serbian Club.

Stevandic's refuse to quit as vice-president has led the opposition Alliance for Change coalition to boycott assembly sessions over which...