Presidential elections partially canceled in Bosnia. What is the solution for breaking the deadlock
The leader of the Bosnian Serbs, Milorad Dodik Photo: Radivoje Pavicic / AP / Profimedia
The electoral commission in Bosnia partially annulled, on Wednesday, the results of the presidential elections in Republika Srpska (RS, the Serbian entity of the country) due to “irregularities”, a decision that could change the result of the election organized to appoint Milorad Dodik's successor, reports AFP, quoted by Agerpres.
At the end of the early elections in RS, marked by a weak participation (35.5%), Sinisa Karan, the candidate supported by Milorad Dodik and the coalition in power, obtained 50.39% of the votes, compared to 48.22% for Branko Blanusa, supported by several opposition parties, according to the preliminary results.
The difference between the two candidates is less than 10,000 votes, out of a total of approximately 450,000 voters who came to the polling stations.
Since the day of the elections, the opposition has accused the coalition in power of “fraud” in at least 100 sections, stating that this was “decisive” for the election result. Milorad Dodik, who leads his party (SNSD), rejected these accusations, and recently declared that this “history is over” for him.
The Electoral Commission (CIK) decided at the beginning of December to recount the ballots in more than 100 polling stations, out of a total of 2,160, and on Wednesday announced the annulment of the result in 136 of them, in 17 localities, mostly in Doboj (north), Zvornik (east) and Laktasi (northwest), Dodik's constituency.
“During these early elections, numerous irregularities were found,” said a CIK reporter, Miso Krstovic.
The CIK decision is not final and can be contested within 48 hours. If it is approved by the judiciary, the CIK will call a new election in the disputed polling stations.
This election was organized after the dismissal of Dodik by the local justice. Milorad Dodik (66 years old) was banned from holding public office for six years in February, a decision confirmed on appeal. He was found guilty of not complying with the decisions of the international High Representative, whose mission is to ensure the proper implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement, signed 30 years ago.
Bosnia is divided into two autonomous entities: Republika Srpska (RS) and the Croatian-Bosnian Federation.
