Bosnia's CEC strips Dodik of his mandate

2025-08-06 11:56:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina, during a meeting held in Sarajevo, approved the decision to remove the mandate of the president of the Republika Srpska entity, Milorad Dodik.

The removal of the mandate comes after the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has sentenced Dodik to one year in prison, as well as a ban on exercising this and other political functions in the country for the next six years, due to non-compliance with the decisions of the High Representative in Bosnia.

Dodik's mandate will be revoked after the deadline for appeal expires.

An appeal against this decision may be filed with the Appellate Department of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina within two days from the date of receipt of the decision, through the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in accordance with the Election Law of Bosnia.

After this, early elections for the president of the Republika Srpska entity are expected to be announced, which must be held within 90 days.

Regular general elections are scheduled for October 2026.

According to the Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an elected official's term of office ends "on the day a final judgment is rendered, by which he or she is sentenced to imprisonment of six months or more!".

According to the Bosnian Court's ruling, Dodik will not be eligible to run for any political office until the end of the six-year ban.

Earlier, Dodik stated that he would not step down from the post of president of RS, despite the final decision.

Dodik, as well as his party, the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), have opposed the verdict and called on the opposition to form a "government of national unity" in Republika Srpska, as well as for joint action in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina until the status of RS is returned to the "guaranteed constitutional frameworks."

Dodik's defense has announced an appeal to the Constitutional Court of Bosnia, with the aim of challenging the verdict.

The RS Government has also announced that they do not accept the decision of the second instance court in Bosnia.

This executive has assessed the decision as "legally invalid, unconstitutional and politically motivated."

In a series of conclusions adopted at an extraordinary session in Banja Luka on Tuesday, August 5, it was stated, among other things, that "the Court and Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia are unconstitutional and have conducted a politically rigged process against the president," who, according to them, has acted only in accordance with his constitutional and legal powers.

Dodik was found guilty of signing the decree promulgating laws that had previously been annulled by the international High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christian Schmidt.

Through those laws, the legislative bodies in RS had attempted to prevent the implementation of decisions of the Bosnian Constitutional Court and the High Representative on the territory of this Bosnian entity.

The other defendant in this case, the acting director of the Official Gazette of RS, Miloš Luki?, has been acquitted of the charges./ REL