Bosnians vote in general elections on Sunday in a country in the midst of political crisis, torn by growing ethnic divisions that threaten its integrity.
Between secessionist threats from Orthodox Serbs, Bosnian Muslims and Catholic Croats who no longer want to live together, many fear new turbulence after the election.
The small, poor Balkan country is divided between a Serbian entity, the Republika Srpska (RS), and a Croat-Muslim federation, linked by a weak central power that is often paralyzed. This system is inherited from the Dayton Accords of 1995 (USA), which ended the war in which 100,000 people were killed.
The various political leaders have promised stability by slipping their ballot into the ballot box. But voters seemed dubious when taking part in this complex ballot to appoint the three members of the Bosnian collegiate presidency, the deputies of the central parliament and those of the two entities as well as, in Republika Srpska, the presidency.
“I don’t hope for anything, I vote because it’s the only thing I can do as an individual”said Amra Besic, a 57-year-old economist, slipping her ballot into the ballot box in Sarajevo.
In RS, Anita Milenkovic, a 42-year-old singer, was no less disillusioned. “I am not very optimistic” for the future of the country,” she says. “The biggest problem is that they can’t agree, our leaders”.
mass exodus
All those who can choose exile in the face of the absence of both political and economic prospects.
Nearly 500,000 people have left the country since the last census in 2013, when it had a population of 3.5 million, according to estimates by the Union for a Sustainable Return, a local NGO.
Milorad Dodik, political leader of the Bosnian Serbs and outgoing Serb representative of the collegial presidency, is seeking the presidency of the RS this time around. The 63-year-old nationalist has multiplied secessionist threats in recent months, which have earned him sanctions from Washington and London, while repeatedly repeating that Bosnia was a country “missed”.
“People are motivated to vote for stability, peace, a safe life in this region”he assured after putting his ballot in the ballot box in his native village of Laktasi.
Some analysts are betting on a victory for this great admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin even if his main competitor, Jelena Trivic, a 39-year-old academic, assures the opposite.
She also plays on the nationalist rope but promises to slay the kleptocracy established according to her by Milorad Dodik. “Our vengeance will be exercised by law”she said.
Boycott
In the Bosnian community, Bakir Izetbegovic, leader of the main party, the nationalist SDA which has dominated political life for decades, is seeking a third term in the Muslim seat of the tripartite presidency. He called on the Bosnians to elect representatives “which will not create blockades and crises, which will not drive young people out of Bosnia and Herzegovina”.
Son of the first president of independent Bosnia, he is however playing a more difficult game than before against a candidate supported by eleven opposition parties. Denis Becirovic, 46-year-old history teacher, campaigns for a Bosnia “pro-European and united”.
For their part, the Croats, who have threatened for months to boycott the election, are unhappy to have to share a federation with the Bosnians. All Croatian parties are calling for their own entity or at least a modification of the electoral rules.
These allow the Bosnians, who are a large majority demographically within the common entity, to de facto elect the Croatian member to the collegial presidency.
The outgoing Croatian co-president, Zeljko Komsic, a flag bearer of a state “citizen” considered as “illegitimate” by a large part of his community, will face Borjana Kristo, candidate of the nationalist HDZ. In the event of victory of the first, some fear new tumults and institutional blockages.
Offices close at 5:00 p.m. GMT. In the absence of exit polls, preliminary results are not expected until late at night.