- Bosnia votes amid political crisis
- The moderate Bosnian leader poised to win a seat in the presidency
- The international peace watchdog imposes changes to the electoral law
SARAJEVO, Oct 3 (Reuters) – Bosnian moderate candidate Denis Becirevic is leading the race for Bosnia’s tripartite inter-ethnic presidency seat, preliminary results based on a partial vote count showed on Monday.
Becirevic, the member of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) who was supported by 11 citizen-oriented opposition parties, won 55.78% of the vote over Bakir Izetbegovic, the Bosnian Nationalist (Bosnian Muslim) Party of the Democratic Action (SDA) has been part of. power since the end of the war in 1996.
Izetbegovic, who according to the electoral commission got 39.31% of the votes, conceded defeat on Sunday afternoon.
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Bosnia’s voters turned out to elect the country’s new collective presidency and lawmakers at the national, regional and local levels, in a contest between deep-rooted nationalists and economy-focused reformists.
Bosnia is going through its worst political crisis since the end of its war in the 1990s, driven by the separatist policies of the Serbian leadership and threats of a blockade by the Bosnian Croats.
“It’s time for a positive turn in Bosnia,” Becirovic told reporters after declaring victory.
Election authorities said early Monday that Borjana Kristo of the nationalist Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) won 51.36% of the vote for the Croatian presidency member and moderate Zeljko Komsic came in second with 48 .64% of the votes, based on 54.73% of the votes counted.
On Sunday, Komsic declared victory after preliminary SDA results put him ahead of Kristo with 70.73 percent of the vote, based on 80 percent of ballots counted.
Zeljka Cvijanovic, an ally of pro-Russian Bosnian Serb separatist leader Milorad Dodik, won 51.65% of the votes counted in the race to be the Serb member of the Bosnian presidency.
The commission said it would continue to update preliminary results daily from Monday.
Bosnia comprises two autonomous regions: the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska and the Federation shared by Bosniaks, or Bosnian Muslims, and Croats, linked by a weak central government. The Federation is further divided into 10 cantons. There is also the neutral district of Brcko in the north.
The race for the post of autonomous Republika Srpska president between Dodik and opposition economics professor Jelena Trivic still appeared inconclusive, based on rival party results.
Komsic’s victory declaration was heavily criticized by Croatian political parties, who complain that the majority Bosniaks choose their member of the presidency. They have threatened to block the formation of a regional government if Komsic wins.
But just an hour after the polls closed, Bosnia’s international peace watchdog imposed changes to the electoral law, imposing unblocking mechanisms and strict deadlines to safeguard the functioning of the Federation.
The electoral commission said turnout at 7pm (1700 GMT) was 50%.
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Additional reporting by Reuters TV and Ivana Sekularac; Editing by Jan Harvey, Alexander Smith, Nick Macfie, Diane Craft and Sam Holmes
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