4 minutes agoBosnia Risks Political Crisis After Elections
Periskopi(8 years ago)
(8 years ago)Croatian, Bosnian and Serbian nationalist parties won in Sunday's elections in Bosnia and will dominate all levels of the complex governance structure in the next four years. According to preliminary results, Serbian nationalist leader Milorad Dodik and Bosnian Muslim candidate Sefik Dzaferovic won their seats in the presidency with three representatives, while the country [...]
According to preliminary results, Serbian nationalist leader Milorad Dodik and Bosnian Muslim candidate Sefik Dzaferovic won their seats in the presidency with three representatives, while Croatia's most moderate candidate, Zelko Komsic, regained the country.
The winners are representatives with contrasting views regarding the country's future, which can deepen ethnic divisions and slow down integration into the European Union.
Sunday's vote was a test of whether Bosnia will advance towards the European Union and NATO, or remain confined to ethnic divisions.
About 53 per cent of voters placed about 7 thousand and 500 candidates for a series of institutions in Bosnia's complex governing system, created with the peace agreement, which ended the war that killed 100,000,
The country consists of a region run by Serbs and a similar Muslim-Croatian entity united in a central government.
The pre-election campaign came under the shadow of divisive rhetoric and allegations of irregularities that only increased tensions and parties of the three ethnicities failed to provide clear economic and political views for the high-scale unemployment and corruption country.
Bosnian Serbs and Croats want to draw closer to neighbouring Serbia and Croatia, while Muslims want united Bosnia. The issue was at the heart of the 1990s war.
The attention was more focused on competition for Bosnia's three-member presidency, due to Serbian entity president Milorad Dodik's candidacy, a hardline politician who seeks to separate from Bosnia.
Milorad Dodik is Russian President Vladim Putin's main ally, and his victory implies Russia's most powerful influence.
Analysts believe he will work to weaken the presidency.
My priority will be the position of Serbs and Republika Srpska”, he said, referring to the autonomous region he has led so far.
The main Croatian candidate for the Bosniak presidency, Dragan Covic, who lost the election, seeks the formation of a third government body -- a Croatian mini state -- that would mean further fragmentation of the fragile country. / VOA/
