Milorad Dodik, the Russia-friendly former leader of Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Serbian-led entity, declared victory for his party in the region, with nationalist parties also scoring wins in Bosnia’s complex electoral system — results likely to keep tensions high in the country and the region.
“I am declaring that we have won,” Dodik told supporters in Banja Luka late on October 4, saying preliminary figures assure that his SNSD — the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats — will remain in power in Republika Srpska (RS).
Voters cast ballots for the country’s central tripartite presidency and national parliament, alongside regional legislative races, such as in the RS, in a complex political system set up under the Dayton accords that ended the country’s devastating 1992-95 war.
As part of the Dayton agreements, Bosnia was divided into two semi-autonomous entities — the Serb-run RS and a Muslim Bosniak-Croat federation — linked by a sometimes weak central government.
In his victory speech, Dodik said the SNSD’s Zeljka Cvijanovic will become a member of Bosnia’s tripartite presidency, based on results with 92 percent of ballots counted.
Pro-West incumbent Denis Becirovic was on course to win the Bosniak seat in the presidency and is expected to be joined by Darijana Filipovic of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), who is projected to win the Croat seat.
At 39, Filipovic is set to become the youngest member of the Bosnian presidency since the end of the 1992-95 conflict.
by RFE/RL – Nationalist Parties, Dodik Dominate Bosnian Election Amid Low Turnout
