BANJA LUKA (Bosnia and Herzegovina): Polling stations closed on Sunday in Bosnia’s Serb-majority entity after elections to replace its banned firebrand president, Milorad Dodik, who was removed for defying Bosnia’s international peace envoy.
Dodik was ejected from office in August following his conviction for ignoring rulings by the international appointee who oversees a peace deal which has held Bosnia together since the end of its 1990s inter-ethnic war.
The conflict left the country split into two semi-autonomous halves — the Serb-run Republika Srpska (RS) and a Bosniak-Croat federation — linked by weak central institutions.
“These elections were organised by Bosnian Muslims and (top envoy Christian) Schmidt,” Dodik said on Sunday after voting in his hometown, Laktasi.
“They wanted to defeat us in Republika Srpska, and now the people have a chance to defeat them,” he told reporters, stressing that Republika Srpska is “above all”.
Sunday’s early vote means the winner will serve for less than a year before the general election in October 2026.
It is seen as a crucial test of support for Dodik’s nationalist party, which has been in power for nearly two decades.
Retired economist Brankica Dragojlovic voiced hope for better times, saying her pension of 350 convertible marks ($206) is barely enough to get by.
“What we’ve had until now has been terrible... If it weren’t for my son, I would have starved to death. He (Dodik) stole everything, he should be helping the poor, not taking for himself. He has enough.”
By 1400 GMT, four hours before the polling stations were to close, the turnout was 26 percent, Bosnia’s electoral commission said.
Around 1.2 million eligible voters could choose between six candidates, but there are two favourites.
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