In January 1992, the SDS assembly proclaimed the "Republic of the Serbian People of Bosnia and Herzegovina" and Radovan Karadžić, its soon-to-be president, announced that a "unified Bosnia and Herzegovina no longer exists".[12] In March, the Bosnian referendum on independence passed with overwhelming support from Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats, having been boycotted by most Bosnian Serbs.[11] The SDS, claiming that independence would result in the Serbs becoming "a national minority in an Islamic state",[12] had used armed irregular units to block the delivery of ballot boxes, and dropped leaflets encouraging the boycott.[13] Despite this, thousands of Serbs in larger cities did participate in the referendum and voted for independence,[14] and several violent incidents were triggered across Bosnia and Herzegovina.[11] According to historian Noel Malcolm the "steps taken by Karadžić and his party – [declaring Serb] "Autonomous Regions", the arming of the Serb population, minor local incidents, non-stop propaganda, the request for federal army "protection" – matched exactly what had been done in Croatia.