On Sunday, October 12th, the general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina will take place. In the following text, the analysis of the past 2010 elections can be seen, as well as the list of parties and candidates for 2014 elections.
Namely, these are the main parties:
Social Democratic Party SDP – centre-left
Party of Democratic Action SDA – centre-right
Alliance for a Better Future of Bosnia and Herzegovina SBB BiH -centre-right
Croatian, Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina HDZ BiH – centre-right
Croatian Democratic Union 1990 HDZ 1990 – centre-right
Alliance of Independent Social Democrats SNSD – centre-left (though in reality, nationalist)
Serb Democratic Party SDS – right-wing
In addition, it is important to note that 65 political parties, 24 independent candidates and
Party positioning is indicative and to be viewed in the context and framework of the country’s politics.
There are 10 candidates for the post of Bosniak member of the three-member Presidency. Croats will be choosing between four candidates, while there are three candidates for the Serb seat.
The 2010 election
The last general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina were held in 2010. Turnout was 56%.
The clear winner in Republika Srpska entity was the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, SNSD, with 43.3%, nearly twice as much as the SDS. In the Federation, the Social-democratic party, SDP, and the Party of Democratic Action, SDA, won 26% and 19.5% of the vote respectively. The largest Bosnian Croat political force was the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, with 11%. A six-party government (between the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the Party of Democratic Action(SDA), the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HDZ), the Croatian Democratic Union 1990, the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS), and the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD)) was eventually formed 15 months after the election.
The outgoing government and parliament have been dubbed the worst ever. 106 laws were adopted by parliament in the past four years, down from the 180 between 2006-2010. As a comparison, over the same period the Montenegrin government adopted about 350 laws, Serbia 500 and Croatia about 750.
In the tripartite presidency vote, the SNSD candidate Nebojsa Radmanovic was the clear winner among Serb voters, while the SDA candidate Bakir Izetbegovic prevailed as the Bosniak member of the Presidency, and the SDP candidate Zeljko Komsic emerged as the Croat member of the Presidency. The latter result was not welcomed among several right-wing Croat parties who accused Komsic of being elected by Bosniak voters.
A country’s constitution and institutions are always a consequence of its history. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the divisions of the past may have been frozen, but their complexity and scars remain deeply enshrined in how the country’s parliament and government are elected and organised.
