Bosnian Serb leader candidate Milorad Dodik, who is barred from running, was on Sunday 23 November declared the winner of the initial presidential election of the Bosnian Serb entity, Republika Srpska (RS).
Sinisa Karan won 50.89% of the vote, compared with 47.81 for his main rival, Branko Blanusa, according to results published in the evening by the Central Election Commission, based on tallies at nearly 93% of polling stations.
“Our candidate Sinisa Karan won the election today. There is no doubt about that.”was launched even before this publication Mr. Dodik in front of his supporters gathered at the headquarters of his nationalist party in Banja Luka, the capital of Republika Srpska. Milorad Dodik led RS for two decades before being recently removed from office by a court after a serious political crisis.
Six candidates are running. Sinisa Karan, 63, a former interior minister and confidant of Milorad Dodik, is the favorite against Branko Blanusa, a 56-year-old professor of electrical engineering at a university, whose candidacy is supported by several opposition groups.
The RS, along with the Croatian Muslim Federation, is one of two autonomous entities that make up post-war Bosnia. The president appoints the prime minister and promulgates laws, but without a majority in Parliament, his powers are limited. The new president of the entity, which covers half of Bosnia and has about 1.2 million voters, is expected to stay in power for just one year, before general elections in October 2026.
Separatist threat
The vote was intended to end a period of turbulence in Bosnia, which saw a duel between Milorad Dodik, close to the Kremlin, and the leading international representative, Christian Schmidt – responsible for honoring the 1995 peace agreement -, pushing the country into its most serious political crisis since the end of the war. The high representative has broad powers: he can impose or change laws, dismiss elected officials… The prerogative has been constantly criticized by Milorad Dodik, who has stepped up separatist threats and insults against Christian Schmidt, the former German minister who arrived in 2021.
As a result, Milorad Dodik was sentenced to one year in prison on appeal in August – a sentence that was commuted to a one-day fine – and banned from holding public office for six years, due to non-compliance with the international envoy’s decision. After challenging the ruling, he finally accepted the election of his successor – just before Washington lifted sanctions that had targeted him for nearly a decade for his separatist policies.
“This election was organized by Bosnian Muslims and (Christian) Schmidt »said Milorad Dodik after voting in his hometown of Laktasi. “They wanted to defeat us in Republika Srpska, and now the people have the opportunity to defeat them”he told reporters, promising “Republic of Serbia above all”.
“Anti-popular, selfish and irresponsible”
During the campaign, Milorad Dodik claimed that a vote for Sinisa Karan was actually a vote for himself and his policies, and repeated that Bosnia was the right choice. “impossible country” and RS, “a state” who should “to wait” its international recognition.
Meanwhile, Branko Blancusa explained that hospitals are above everything “threatened” by his opponent’s policies: “He humiliated the hospital institution for his own interests and wealth, which is why he is now on the people’s blacklist. »
Whatever the outcome of the vote, for historian and diplomat Slobodan Soja, nothing “the slightest ideological difference between the ruling party and the opposition party”which he describes, both as“anti-popular, selfish and irresponsible”. As for Milorad Dodik, “he gave up on getting sanctions lifted”but he remains a political actor “can not be avoided”. “His wings have been trimmed a bit, but his strength remains intact and will only grow with time.”explained Slobodan Soja.
