Republika Srpska votes to elect new president

2025-11-23 12:20:05, Kosova & Bota CNA

Citizens of Republika Srpska are voting on Sunday to elect a new president, after the incumbent, Milorad Dodik, was dismissed for ignoring the international special envoy for peace in Bosnia.

Dodik stepped down as president of Republika Srpska in August after being convicted of failing to comply with decisions by the international representative, Christian Schmidt, who oversees the peace agreement that has kept Bosnia united since the end of the interethnic war in the 1990s.

Early elections in Republika Srpska (RS) - one of Bosnia's two semi-autonomous entities, alongside the Bosniak-Croat federation - mean the winner will serve for less than a year, until general elections in October 2026.

The elections are seen as a crucial test of support for Dodik's nationalist party, which has been in power for nearly two decades.

Voting centers opened at 7:00 AM and will close at 7:00 PM.

About 1.2 million eligible voters can choose between six candidates, but two of them are considered the main favorites.

Sinisa Karan, a former interior minister, is a close ally and personal choice of Dodik, who remains the leader of his party, the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD).

The main opposition group, the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS), has chosen Branko Blanusa, a relatively unknown electrical engineering professor, 56, who has repeatedly accused Dodik and his party of corruption.

The elections are being held after years of clashes between Bosnia's top representative, Christian Schmidt, and Dodik - clashes that, according to many analysts, brought the country to the brink of the most serious political crisis since the end of the 1992-1995 war.

Earlier this year, Dodik was convicted and banned from holding public office for six years for failing to implement Schmidt's decisions.

After initially ignoring the decision for months, Dodik, who has close ties to the Kremlin, suddenly accepted his dismissal in October.

During the campaign, Karan has been openly promoted as a continuation of Dodik's legacy.

The presidential candidate was present at Thursday's closing rally, where Dodik, who during the campaign called Bosnia an "impossible state," promised that the effort towards statehood for Republika Srpska would continue.

"Our vision is freedom, and there is no freedom without a state," Dodik told crowds in the Bosnian Serb administrative capital of Banja Luka.

Meanwhile, Blanusa has blamed Dodik's policies for jeopardizing the entity's future and accused him of corruption.

"He has humiliated the institutions of RS for his personal interests and wealth," Blanusa said during an electoral event earlier this week./ REL