Blanusa Admits Meeting With Dodik Days Before Srpska Vote

Nine days before the general election in Republika Srpska, set for October 4, security camera footage has surfaced that triggered a fresh round of accusations inside the opposition camp. The footage shows a meeting between Branko Blanusa, president of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) and the opposition’s candidate for president of Republika Srpska, and Igor Dodik, organizational secretary of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) and son of the party’s president, Milorad Dodik. The story matters for Belgrade too, since the outcome in Republika Srpska will shape the balance of power among SNSD aligned parties across the region.

What the footage shows

According to Bosnian and Herzegovinian outlets, the footage was recorded on July 7, the Ivanjdan holiday, in a hallway of a building in Banja Luka where Igor Dodik keeps his offices. It shows Blanusa talking with Igor Dodik while two other people stand nearby, and at the end, the SNSD president’s son walks them to the elevator. Jutarnji list reported that before stepping into the elevator, Igor Dodik waited for the arrival of Darko Culum, director of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA). The footage carries no audio, so it is impossible to tell what was actually discussed. The clip first appeared publicly on September 25, according to Blanusa initially on the Dnevni avaz news site, from where, he claims, it was later removed and then picked up by other outlets close to the ruling establishment.

Blanusa confirms the meeting

After repeated calls from within his own party to address the footage, Blanusa admitted the recording was genuine and that it showed his conversation not with Igor Dodik, with whom he says he simply happened to be in the same space, but with SNSD president Milorad Dodik.

“This was a meeting between me, as president of the SDS, and the SNSD president, Milorad Dodik, which took place in early July. There is nothing secret, hidden or conspiratorial about it. The meeting was held because of the situation around the US sanctions against the SDS, which had our account frozen and left us unable to get budget funding the way every other party does. We did everything in our power to get the money we are legally owed, but the institutions ignored the court’s ruling. That is why this meeting happened. That is the whole story. The authorities just wanted to turn one perfectly ordinary meeting into some kind of scandal, a big dramatic story, and squeeze out a few votes, since they are clearly short on votes. Nothing more than that,” Blanusa said.

The SDS president added that he sees the release of the footage as pre election pressure from the ruling party.

“None of it will help you! The people want change, the people want justice. Cheap tricks like this will not save you from certain defeat in this election. Enjoy your privileges for a few more days, then we start consistently enforcing the Law on the Verification of Asset Origin. There will be no pardons. Justice is coming back to Srpska!”

Reactions inside the opposition

Blanusa is the SDS candidate for president of Republika Srpska, while Marinko Bozovic, head of the East Ilidza municipality, is running as the Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Reaction to the footage came from both allies and rivals inside the opposition bloc.

Ljubisa Petrovic, mayor of Bijeljina and a member of the SDS presidency, publicly asked for an explanation and noted that the meeting took place just seven days after Blanusa was named the party’s candidate, with neither the membership nor the public informed about it.

“I demand the truth!” Petrovic said, adding that as mayor of Bijeljina and a member of the party presidency, he owes an answer to the people who backed Blanusa.

Nebojsa Vukanovic, leader of the List for Justice and Order, demanded that Blanusa account for what was discussed and announced he would refuse further joint appearances with him on the campaign trail, saying he was not willing to sit “next to people who sit on two chairs and secretly meet with Dodik.”

A different tone came from Jelena Trivic, president of the People’s Party (Narodni front), who defended Blanusa and described the release of the footage as a setup by the ruling establishment.

“Releasing hallway camera footage like this is just another regime setup,” Trivic said, arguing that the ones who benefited most from its release were, in fact, figures from within the opposition itself.

Why the timing is being questioned

What ties all these reactions together is the timing. Footage that is nearly three months old surfaced only nine days before voters go to the polls, at a moment when Blanusa, by his own account and citing opinion polling he refers to, is leading the race for president of Republika Srpska. Blanusa argues that the SNSD sat on the footage for months and released it when it judged the damage to the opposition would be greatest, while his own party colleagues and part of the opposition are demanding a detailed account of what he discussed with Milorad Dodik just a week after becoming a candidate for the entity’s top office.