Bosnia’s Serb region votes for new president after Dodik’s removal

BANJA LUKA, Bosnia (Reuters) -Voters in Bosnia’s autonomous Serb Republic cast ballots for a new president in a snap election on Sunday, called after the former president, Milorad Dodik, was stripped of office and banned from politics for six years.

The vote will determine whether the Bosnian Serb-dominated region moves away from Dodik’s nationalist agenda or continues with separatist policies that jeopardise the internal cohesion of the fragile Balkan country.

Pro-Russian separatist Dodik was convicted in February of defying the constitutional court and an international peace envoy, leading to Bosnia’s biggest political crisis since the end of its devastating war 30 years ago.

He repeatedly rejected the verdict, which was upheld by an appeals council in August and the constitutional court earlier this month, but in October unexpectedly appointed a loyal ally as his temporary replacement.

Postwar Bosnia comprises the Serb Republic and the Federation, shared by Croats and Bosniaks, linked via a weak central government.

The powers of the regions’ presidents are mostly ceremonial but Dodik, who has held top government jobs in the Serb region for most of the past 25 years, had usurped all executive powers during his terms.

VOTERS DISILLUSIONED

Most people who cast their ballots early on Sunday in the region’s largest city of Banja Luka were disillusioned about the chance of change.

“There is nothing to be expected,” said Bozidar Knezevic. “We are left to manage on our own.” 

Among six candidates for the presidential office, there are two favourites – Dodik’s ally Sinisa Karan from his ruling Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, and opposition candidate Branko Blanusa of the Serb Democratic Party. The presidential mandate will last for less than a year since a general election is scheduled next October.

Dodik has actively campaigned for Karan, who currently serves as Serb Republic minister of scientific and technological development. Karan has campaigned under the motto that a vote for him is a “vote for president Dodik” and pictures of the duo smiling from posters have been posted throughout the region.

Blanusa is a university professor who is a new face in politics. He is supported by most Serb opposition parties and has pledged to fight against corruption and “state capture” of resources in the Serb Republic.

More than 1.2 million people are eligible to vote in the election. The preliminary results are expected after polling stations close at 18:00 GMT.

(Reporting by Daria Sito-SucicEditing by Christina Fincher)