Nebojša Vukanović, an opposition politician from the Bosnia and Herzegovina entity of Republika Srpska, stated that he will run for the member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina from that entity in the general elections scheduled for October. Vukanović, a member of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska and leader of the “For Justice and Order-Nebojša Vukanović List” party, rejected a proposal by the opposition Serb Democratic Party (SDS) for a joint appearance of the entity’s opposition in the elections, reaffirming his candidacy for the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Therefore, I will not sign this agreement, but I will run for amember of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina,”Vukanović told the Fena agency on Thursday.
The SDS proposal for a joint appearance in the upcoming general elections was acceptable to representatives of all opposition parties except for Vukanović, who claims that SDS leader Milan Miličević succumbed to pressure from the authorities in Serbia.
Vukanović called the text of the agreement proposed by the SDS a “betrayal”, Fena reports.
“There is a decision by the SDS Main Board that Blanuša will be the party’s candidate for President of Republika Srpska. However, the text of the agreement now proposes that the signatory parties determine the individual candidates for the President of Republika Srpska and the member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina from Republika Srpska based on the election results of the previous electoral cycle and relevant public opinion research,” Vukanović stated.
He claims that the SDS leader did so under pressure from the authorities in Belgrade and partly from individual within the SDS who cooperate with the “regime of Aleksandar Vučić” and who want Draško Stanivuković (leader of the Safe Srpska Movement) to be the opposition’s candidate for President of Republika Srpska.
Nebojša Vukanović was born in 1979 in Trebinje, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and graduated from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Nikšić, Montenegro. For a period, he worked as a professor of history and geography, and later as a journalist.
In the 2012 elections, he ran as an independent candidate for Mayor of Trebinje. His non-partisan “For Justice and Order List” received around 9,000 votes in the 2014 Republika Srpska general elections, and in 2020, he led an electoral list in the Trebinje local elections, winning four seats in the Trebinje City Assembly.
In recent years, Vukanović has become well-known to the public as a fierce critic of the policies of Milorad Dodik and his SNSD party.
