Bosnia Herzegovina Update

30 October 2007

INTRODUCTION

Since the formation of the new government in February 2007, the news from Bosnia has been dominated by the failed negotiations on the police-reform. On and on, media report about the difficulties of reaching an agreement and about how the EU-special representative Miroslav Lajcak and EU-commissioner Olli Rehn keep emphasising the important of the reforms for the next step towards EU-membership: the signing of the Stabilisation an Association Agreement. It seems that the police-reforms are the only obstacle to further European integration.

Besides the police reforms, Bosnia has a few more issues that should be addressed before further European integration can take place, like the extremely high costs of the public-administration and the economic development of Bosnia Herzegovina. However, for now, a police-reforms agreement is the first step that should be taken, preferably in 2007.

ELECTIONS AND THE POLITICAL SITUATION

The Dayton Peace Agreement signed in 1995 to end the war in Bosnia, stipulated the Bosnian constitution. As a result, the political system is a complex and an inefficient one. Bosnia is composed of two political entities, Republika Srpska (49 percent of territory) and the Federation (51 percent of the territory). In addition, the Federation is divided into ten cantonal units. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a highly decentralised state with weak state institutions. Its political system is an unhappy mixture of a parliamentary, presidential and half presidential political system. Each political unit has its own governing body, accumulating to 700 elected state officials and more than 140 ministers. As a result, the state system costs approximately 60 percent of the state budget. In the following the Federation of Bosnia Herzegovina will be referred to as F B&H and the Republic Srpska will be referred to as RS.

General elections were held in Bosnia Herzegovina on the 1st of October 2006. New members of the state-level Presidium were elected, along with the president and vice-presidents of Republika Srpska (RS). The voters chose also the representatives to the lower house of the state parliament and to the entities’ parliamentary assemblies. 53,4 percent of the voters went to the polls, which is in the line with those who voted at the previous elections. Clear winners of the elections are Milorad Dodik’s Union of Independent Social Democrats (Savez Nezavisnih Socijaldemokrata - SNSD) and Haris Silajdžic’s Party for Bosnia Herzegovina (Stranka za BiH - SzBIH). Support for the nationalist parties decreased as Party of Democratic Action (SDA), Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) and Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) saw their voters crossing to respectively SzBiH, SNSD and the coalition Hrvatsko zajednistvo (HDZ 1990 HZ-HSS-HKDU-HDU-DEMOKRŠĆANI), headed by the new Croatian Democratic Union 1990 (HDZ 1990). The shift in support was evident at all levels. However, it did not necessarily mean that the electorate voted for a moderate path on the political scene.

The campaign of the 2006 elections was dominated by nationalistic issues and nationalistic rhetoric. Dodik and Silajdzic dominated the media. On one hand, Silajdzic said to be fighting for a civic democracy in Bosnia without ethnic division (e.g. proclaiming his wish to abolish the entities). On the other hand, Dodik threatened to hold a referendum on the independence of RS if its existence is questioned by politicians in Sarajevo.

Bosnia and Herzegovina (state-level)

The parliament consists of two houses. The house of the people’s has 15 delegates: five for each ethnic group. The Serb representatives are appointed by the parliament of the RS and Bosniaks and Croats are employed from the parliament of the F B&H.

The House of Representatives has 42 members. Two third are elected from the F B&H and one third from the RS by regular elections for a four year mandate. Their role is to adopt the state budget, to elect the government on the proposal of the presidency, and to adopt laws.

Election results of the 1st of October 2006 general elections:
House of Representatives state parliament Bosnia Herzegovina

Party	percent	seats
Party for Democratic Action (SDA)	21.42	9
Party for Bosnia Herzegovina (SzBiH)	19.04	8
Union of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD)	16.66	7
Social Democratic Party BiH (SDP BiH)	11.9	5
Serbian Democratic Party (SDS)	7.14	3
Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) - Croatia Coalition -HNZ	7.14	3
Croatian Union (HDZ 1990 HZ-HSS - HKDU - HDU - Christian-democrats)	4.76	2
Party for Democratic Porgress (PDP)	2.38	1
Bosnia -Herzegovinian Partiotic Party (BPS)	2.38	1
Democratic People's Union (DNZ)	2.38	1
People's Party Work for Progress	2.38	1
Democratic People's Alliance (DNS)	2.38	1
Total	99.96	42

State-level Governement coalition

Representatives of seven political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina agreed on 3 January 2007 on the lineup of the new ruling coalition of the country. The new Prime Minister is a Serbian representative, Nikola Spiric, from the Union of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD). The other parties which will be represented in the new government will be the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina (SbiH), Croatian Democratic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HDZ BiH), Croatian Democratic Community 1990 (HDZ 1990), People’s Party “With Work for Welfare” (NSRZB) and the Party of Democratic Progress (PDP). The new coalition will have 32 out of 42 seats in the parliament. The ministerial posts will be distributed in accordance with the national structure, whereas the parties will decide on the candidates.

The Presidency

The presidency consists of three persons elected by direct election for a four-year mandate. The Serb member of the presidency is elected from the RS and the Croat and Bosniak members are elected from the F B&H. They rotate every eight months on ethnic principle.
Despite the fact that the constitution includes safeguarding of human rights and fundamental freedoms, election of the members of the presidency discriminates Serbs in F B&H and Croats and Bosniaks in RS.
In the October 2006 elections Haris Silajdzic (SzBiH) representing the Bosniaks received 62, 8 percent of the votes. Zaljko Komsic (SDP BiH), representing the Croats, was elected presidency member with 39, 56 of votes and Nebojsa Radmanovic (SNSD), representing the Serbs, got 53,26 percent of the votes. The new presidency members are respectively from centre right and two social democratic parties and outvoted the candidates of the nationalistic parties. It is significant to mention that, according to analysts, a large number of Bosniak voters voted for Komsic instead for Silajdzic. This development can be praised as a step forward from the ethnic voting that persists in Bosnia.

Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (entity)

Like on the state-level the entity F B&H has a two-housed parliament. The house of the people’s has 58 delegates elected from ten cantonal assemblies: 17 Bosniaks, 17 Croats, 17 Serbs and 7 other nationalities. Its role is to protect the ethnic interests of the represented ethnic groups. The House of Representatives has 98 members elected directly from election districts on open lists.

Election results of the 1st of October 2006 general elections:
House of Representatives Federation parliament

Party	percent	seats
Party for Democratic Action (SDA)	25.45	28
Party for Bosnia Herzegovina (SzBiH)	22.16	24
Social Democratic Party BiH (SDP BiH)	15.17	17
Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) - Croatia Coalition -HNZ	7.56	8
Croatian Union (HDZ 1990 HZ-HSS - HKDU - HDU - Christian-democrats)	6.32	7
Bosnia -Herzegovinian Partiotic Party (BPS)	4.1	4
BOSS -SDU	3.17	3
People's Party Work for Progress	3.16	3
HSP - NHI	2.46	1
Democratic People's Union (DNZ)	1.87	2
Union of Independent Social Democrats	1.46	1

Total (7.22 % other parties) ....

92.88

98

Entity Government in the Federation

Two Bosniak parties, the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) and the Party for Bosnia Herzegovina (SBiH), along with the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) of BiH form the entity cabinet in the Federation. The Bosniaks hold the posts of FBiH prime minister and speaker of the FBiH House of Representatives, while the FBiH president and the speaker of the FBiH House of Peoples are Croats.

The president and vice-presidents of the F B&H, are elected by the house of people’s of the F B&H. They are elected for a four-year mandate during which they do not rotate the presidency. President of F B&H cannot be from the same ethnic group as the prime minister.

Republic Srpska (entity)

Like on state-level, RS has a two-housed parliament consisting of the council of people’s and the national assembly. The council of people’s has the same responsibilities as the house of people’s in F B&H but has a different structure. There are four ethnic clubs: 8 Serbs, 8 Bosniaks, 8 Croats and 4 other elected municipal councils, due to the fact that there are no cantons in RS. In the council right wing parties dominate. The national assembly has 83 members elected for a four-year term, around three quarters elected in multi-seat constituencies and one quarter through compensatory lists.

Election results of the 1st of October 2006 general elections:
National Assembly of Republika Srpska

Party	percent	seats
Union of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD)	43.31	41
Serbian Democratic Party (SDS)	18.27	17
Party for Democratic Progress (PDP)	6.86	8
Democratic People's Alliance (DNS)	4.04	4
Party for BiH (SzBiH)	4.01	4
Socialist Party (SP)	3.55	3
Party for Democratic Action (SDA)	3.39	3
Serbian radical Party of Republika Srpska (SRD RS)	2.92	2
Social Democratic Party of BiH (SDP BiH)	2.5	1
other parties	11.15	-
Total	100	83

Three Bosnian Serb parties, the Union of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), the Democratic People's Alliance (DNS) and the Socialist Party of Republika Srpska (RS), have agreed to form the next coalition government in RS. The three parties control 48 of the 83 seats in parliament. Dodik has been appointed as the Prime Minister of RS.

The president and vice-presidents of RS are elected directly in general elections for a four years mandate. They are of different ethnic background and do not rotate their functions. The newly elected president is Milan Jelić (SNSD). The vice-presidents are Davor Cordas (HDZ) and Adil Osmanovic (SDA). Osmanovic was re-elected in his second mandate.

Local elections

Local elections were held on 2 October 2004. Out of 2,322,687 registered voters 1,087,893 (46.8%) voted in these elections. In F B&H the turnout was 45%, in RS this percentage was 48.6%. These were the first elections where mayors were elected through a direct vote. According to the final results mayoral positions were distributed as following: SDS 35, SDA 35, HDZ 21, SNSD 16, SDP 12, SBiH 4 and PDP 2, while some smaller parties gained one position. The overall impression is that parties in RS have motivated more people to vote than parties in F B&H. The main opposition gains were made by SNSD, which won in about 20 municipalities, including Banja Luka and the former SDS stronghold of Trebinje in eastern Herzegovina. Of the 122 municipalities, 99 will be controlled by one of the ruling nationalist parties (SDS, SDA or HDZ).

Overall, the introduced 3% census brought less parties in local councils. This means that many smaller parties, mainly representing returnees in RS, did not enter the councils, leaving these people without representatives. The introduction of the direct election of mayors proved a good solution to bring more dynamics into the election campaign, with mayoral candidates winning more votes than their respective parties in most cases.

Women in politics
The percentage of women in the state-level parliament is 14,3%. With this score, Bosnia Herzegovina scores average compared to the other countries in the region. The state-level Senate has two women out of 15 senators (13,3%). The state-level government contains no women. Overall it can be stated that women are poorly represented in Bosnia Herzegovina's politics, but that the country scores not worste than some neighbouring countries.

IMPORTANT POLITICAL ISSUES

Presence of the international community

The presence of the international community is coordinated through The Office of High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina (OHR). In the post-war years both residents of Bosnia and the thousands of international officials that are trying to implement the accords, have struggled with the question whether Bosnia is slowly becoming a viable country or whether it simply is a protectorate waiting to collapse when the international commitment leaves. Clashes between the international community (OSCE and the Office of the High Representative) and Bosnian politicians, and among Bosnian politicians of different ethnic origins make apparent that, at least to date, Bosnia can not be called a sovereign state in the full meaning of the word.

Throughout the post-1995 period, the international community has been a player of immense importance in Bosnia's politics. This has led to conflicts and even clashes between representatives of the international community and Bosnian politicians. The high representatives decided in several cases to fire leading politicians from their offices because of political disagreements. In April 2004 HR Paddy Ashdown forbid all state financing to SDS and dismissed in June 2004 59 SDS officials in state, entity and municipal institutions and in public enterprises. The reason for this was SDS's financial and technical support to indicted war criminals wanted by the Hague Tribunal and SFOR. Among those dismissed was SDS president and Chair of the National Assembly of RS Dragan Kalinic.

Miroslav Lajcak, High Representative

On 18th of June 2007, Miroslav Lajcak has been appointed as the new High Representative and EU Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina. He succeeded Christian Schwarz-Schilling, a German, who acted as HR for 13 months and was cristisised for his laissez-faire leadership. Political anaysists expected Lajčák to interfere more extensively in the domestic politics. During his first months in office, Lajčák has proven to in fact interfere more extensively, especially in the debate on constitutional reforms.

Ambassador Miroslav Lajčák is a Slovak diplomat who was Director-General for Political Affairs in the Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs before becoming High Representative and EU Special Representative. He has extensive experience in Southeastern Europe where, before his current appointment, he was best known for his role as mediator and personal representative of the EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, in Montenegro in 2006. Between 2001 and 2005, Ambassador Lajčák was based in Belgrade as Slovakia’s Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (later Serbia and Montenegro), Albania and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Police-reform and the SAA-agreement
In October 2005, ten years after the signing of the Dayton peace agreement, Bosnia started the negotiations on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA). The start on the SAA was made possible only after Bosnia agreed on reforms set as a condition by the European Commission (EC) in its Feasibility Study, published in 2003. The EC announced sixteen areas, which needed reform in order to start the negotiations on the SAA. In 2005 reform of the defence, the police and establishment of a state law on the public broadcasting system remained as the last three conditions to be fulfilled. The aim of the reforms is to strengthen the central government, thereby improving the efficiency of the state administration, which will have the power to implement further reforms as required by the EC. Obstacles to initiate reforms came from Bosnia’s smaller entity, Republika Srpska, which opposes a strong state government at the expense of the entity’s powers.

In October 2005, RS and the Federation agreed on implementing reforms, which will create a central command structure of the defence and one State Ministry of Defence, abolishing the entities’ Ministries of Defence. The Bosnian officials also agreed to reform the police structures in Bosnia according to the conditions set by the EC. These include organising the police units according to technical and functional criteria. Laws and budgets of the police will be decided on at the state level. Finally, there shall be no political interference in the operational work of the police. The political leaders in Bosnia also enacted a law on the Public Broadcasting System (PBS). Bosnia will have one PBS for the whole country, composed of three broadcasters with shared infrastructure. The PBS will be independent and financially viable.

After the agreement of October 2005, the additional negotiations caused many problems, especially on the police-reforms. By October 2007, still no agreement had been reached on the nature of the police-reforms that should unite the Federation’s and Republika Srpska’s police-units. EU-enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn has emphasised many times that the police-reforms are essential to further negotiations on the signing the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. Also EU-special envoy Lajcak has tried to push the Federation and RS leaders to reach an agreement by setting many deadlines for the negotiations. The latest deadline, 15 October 2007, has also passed without any results.

Other constitutional reforms
Although Bosnia started the negotiations on the SAA in November 2005; further reform of the constitution has been pointed out as essential. The political structures of Bosnia are due to its complexity seen as a brake on Bosnia’s development and overly costly. Bosnia counts around 140 ministers and more than 700 elected officials in the state administration, which is financed, by approximately 60 percent of the state budget. The Venice Commission, an advisory body to the Council of Europe has strongly criticised the present constitution. For example, the constitution allows that only citizens in Republika Srpska can vote for the Serbian member of the Presidency and in the Federation the citizens are allowed to vote for the Bosniak or Croat candidate.

In November 2005, the United States (US) government proposed possible amendments to the Bosnian constitutions and in March 2006, six main parties in Bosnia agreed on constitutional changes. Although the international community led the negotiations of constitutional reforms, the partaking parties agreed through compromise on the content of the changes. For the first time they realised that changes are essential to Bosnia’s further democratic and economic development. However, on the 26th of April, the amendments did not get the support of the majority in the state parliament.

Main changes would have been the new presidency consisting of one president and two vice presidents, instead of a three partite presidency. In addition, the president would have filled a mainly representational role and would have been chosen by the parliament instead by the people. The House of Representatives would have seen its seat number grow from 42 to 87. Moreover, the House of Peoples would have been granted fewer powers. A key change would have been the provision that the state no longer needed consent of the entities to implement reforms required by the EU. The State would have had jurisdiction over legislation on any issue concerning Bosnia’s EU integration.

The international community was disappointed about the rejection of the amendments to the constitution. Those who opposed the amendments saw them as inadequate and complained about the fact that voting on basis of ethnicity was not abolished. In order for a law to pass in the parliament one third of the representatives of each ethnic group must vote in favour of the law.

The Constitutional Court of Bosnia Herzegovina decided on 31 March 2006 that the official symbols of the RS and the Federation are unconstitutional and discriminatory. The decision means that the Republika Srpska and the Federation must change their coats of arms, anthems and flags within six months. The decision has provoked fierce reactions in RS. The Prime Minister of RS, Milorad Dodik and the President of RS, Dragan Coavic, accused the court of being a political institution. Bosnian Muslim leader Sulejman Tihic issued a complaint that the symbols violated European conventions on human rights.

In the course of 2007, the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council, an ad-hoc body of countries and organisations with an interest in Bosnia-Herzegovina that includes the United States, Russia, and the European Union, stated that it was worried about the current political atmosphere in Bosnia Herzegovina. The Steering Board blamed the "political leaders who have blocked progress and undermined the political situation with their aggressive rhetoric." Furthermore the Steering Board stated that since April 2006, when the Bosnian parliament rejected the package of constitutional reforms, there has been "near total deadlock in peace implementation and the reforms required for a Stabilization and Association Agreement". Also EU-commissioner Olli Rehn warned the Bosnian politicians many times that without constitutional reforms, no further steps towards EU-membership can be taken.

Economic development

The country of Bosnia and Herzegovina is going through a transition process from central planning economy to a market economy. The process started just before the war, but 3,5 years of devastation of all economic capacities as well as five years of post-war stagnation influenced strongly the competitiveness of companies.

Today, privatization of companies is still in process, and administrative obstacles to open private enterprises and to start production are high. For example, to register a new company three to six months are needed. Existing companies have difficulties to stand on their feet because they lost costumers and their position on the market, and they lack management and new technologies. Most of them still are in state ownership and the government has no money to support them. Some of them are sold for low prices to foreign investors and rich local people. Those companies usually fire the workers, restructure the company, and sell them piece by piece or take large loans for putting them under mortgage and investing outside Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The official unemployment rate for the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina is estimated at 45% in 2006. Economists differ of opinion on the unemployment rate. Many citizens work on the black labour market and are officially searching for jobs. Some economists estimate that the “real” unemployment rate is 25 – 30%. Public opinion polls show that the Bosnian citizens consider unemployment and the dire state of the economy as the main problems.

Bosnia’s agriculture is almost all in private hands, farms are small and inefficient, and the country is traditionally a net importer of food. A sizeable current account deficit and high unemployment rate remain the two most serious economic problems. The country receives substantial amounts of reconstruction assistance and humanitarian aid from the international community but will have to prepare for an era of declining assistance.

The World Bank has announced to continue assisting Bosnia-Herzegovina in the task of undertaking and implementing reforms. The new World Bank Country Assistance Program for Bosnia and Herzegovina (CAS), adopted in September 2004, will provide between USD 150 and 180 million in support of the implementation of BH’s Medium-Term Development Strategy (MTDS) during the period 2005-07.

Start of the negotiations on the SAA has offered Bosnia 100 million Euro (2005- 2006) of funds allocated through the CARDS program. Focus of assistance are institutional capacity-building and economic development. Key areas remain the following: public administration reform (including customs and taxation), justice and home affairs-related issues (including police reform, integrated border management, judicial reform) and improving the investment climate (including trade, education, environment and infrastructure).

The SAA constitutes the bilateral basis between the EU and Bosnia. EU is the main trade partner of Bosnia and the country’s export and import with the EU represent around 50 percent of total trade. The vast majority of Bosnia and Herzegovina products can enter the EU duty free thanks to an autonomous preferential regime adopted by the EU in 2000. Bosnia and Herzegovina exports mainly to Italy, Germany and Slovenia.

Return of Refugees and displaced persons

According to the Ministry for Refugees in Bosnia, 97,9 percent of refugees have returned their pre-war property. However, one out of more than two million refugees have returned home and less than half of the refugees who returned indeed remained to live in their pre-war residence. Less than half million persons have returned to municipalities where they now constitute an ethnic minority. Harassment targeting returnees, no opportunity for employment, inadequate funding for reconstruction and poor social needs obstruct the return process.

Cooperation with the International Crimes Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)

On 22 June 2004, after a preliminary report on the war crimes in Srebrenica in July 1995 was made public, President of RS and vice-president of SDS Dragan Cavic made a public address to the nation. He stated that Srebrenica is a black page in the history of the Serb people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, that a terrible crime was committed and that those responsible should be punished for it. It was observed however that no apologies were made.

In 2005 RS started to cooperate with the ICTY. In January 2005 RS authorities transferred three war crimes suspects to the tribunal in The Hague. In addition six war crimes trials took place in RS and sixteen more war crimes suspects were arrested in RS. In five out of the six trials, defendants were Serbs. Recent efforts mark a change in the decade long period of impunity by RS authorities.
In the Federation twenty trials took place in 2005. In 2005 a Special War Crimes Chamber was established as part of the State Court of Bosnia Herzegovina.

SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTIES

The Socialdemocratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina (SDP B&H)
The SDP B&H is a multiethnic political party that advocates strong state institutions and implementation of European standards in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The SDP B&H was founded in 1909 by the B&H Trade Union (formed in 1906) and left wing intellectuals. The party changed names several times and was a part of the Communist and Socialist party of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Yugoslavia, too.

In 1992 the SDP B&H was shortly part of the Government for National Unity. When SDA together with HDZ supported the formation of national armies the SDP B&H left the government. In the general elections of 1996 SDP B&H led the coalition called "Joint list", which won less than 5% of the votes. In the local elections of 1997 SDP B&H went alone and doubled its score. In 1998, in the second general elections after the war, the SDP B&H got even more, and created local branches in the RS starting from Banja Luka. In 1999 the SDP B&H merged with the Socialdemocrats - led by Selim Beslagic. In 2000 part of the Social Liberal Party of Republic Srpska leadership joined the SDP B&H as well as some top-level members of the Croat Peasant Party. In the local elections in April 2000 the SDP B&H won in 21 municipalities in urban parts of the country.

In the general elections in November 2000 the SDP B&H became the strongest party of the country by gathering 21,5% of the vote and securing 9 places in the state parliament. The "Alliance for change" was formed consisting of several parties and important government positions on state level and in the F B&H entity were fulfilled by party members. In the RS the SDP B&H remained weak due to the strong position of the SDS.

Despite the strong engagement in reforms, the party was subject of negative campaigning of the three nationalist parties. The SDP B&H was blamed for the bad economic situation, for not finishing the reforms, and for discriminating respectively Croats, Serbs and Bosniaks. As a result in the general elections of October 2002 the SDP B&H gathered only 16,5 percent of the votes in F B&H and 10,5 % on state level, cutting the amount of seats in the parliament down to 4. SDP B&H supporters did not went to vote because they were not satisfied with the results, expecting too much in 16 months after 10 years of nationalist government.

This defeat caused a split inside the SDP B&H. A part of the leadership wanted to make a deal with the nationalists to secure their positions in the parliaments. The main board of the party refused that and stated clearly that the SDP B&H will not go in coalition with nationalists. The special congress of the party confirmed the political decision made by the president and the main board. As a result, several figures - Ivo Komsic, Sead Avdic, Miro Lazovic and Sejfudin Tokic - left the party and formed a new one. An estimated 2% of the members joined the new-formed party and about 4% were demoralized and left the party without joining any party. SDP B&H has 35% youth and 35% women in its structures due to the fact of well- organized youth and women associations inside the party.

The Main board elects three vice-presidents, general secretary and the Presidency. Previously they were elected directly from the Congress. This solution was made on the request of membership again in order so strengthen the role of the Main board. Moreover, SDP set the new benchmarks in party internal democratization, providing candidates to have primaries and to campaign inside the party and through the media. These kinds of activities are still the taboo in the rest of the parties in BiH.
Out of 13 Presidency members three are women and four from the youth, 8 Bosniaks, 2 Croats, 2 Serbs and one from the others.

The SDP B&H is a full member of the Socialist International.
Party leader: Zlatko Lagumdzija

Union of Independent Socialdemocrats (SNSD)
The SNSD is a western-oriented party and is focused on cooperation with parties of other ethnic groups. Its political course, however, is still unstable. Its party leader and founder Milorad Dodik has been Prime Minister of Republika Srpska from 1998 until 2000. Dodik was a protegé of the international community, which regarded him as a moderate politician. In the presidential elections of November 2000, however, Dodik was defeated by the SDS-candidate.

The SNSD was founded in February 1992 in Banja Luka. During the war, Milorad Dodik stayed in Republika Srpska and worked on inter-ethnic tolerance. Already during the war the SNSD was able to win support in Serb held territories. In 1996, the SNSD participated in the Alliance for Peace and Progress (SMP - the only Bosnian Serb organisation that ran in the elections of both RS and F B&H) for the parliamentary elections. In 1998 the SNSD was the initiator of the Sloga (Concord) coalition, the main opposition group against the nationalist SDS/SRS bloc in Republika Srpska. On 18 January 1998 Sloga succeeded in forming a new government. In the November 2000 elections, however, the SNSD suffered a crushing defeat by the nationalist SDS.

In 2000 the SNSD merged with the Social Liberals of RS (part of which joined SDP B&H) and declared itself as a party of Bosnia and Herzegovina (not only of RS). They started opening party branches in F B&H. In 2002 SNSD merged with the DSP (Democratic Socialist Party of RS).

In the general elections the SNSD made good results and proved as the strongest force in the RS that can oppose the ultra nationalists. Despite their social democratic orientation, they used nationalism in their campaigns stating that the party protects Serb national interests. The SNSD signed a document with other Serb parties confirming that RS as a Serb entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina is the best solution. The party membership consists for 99% of Serbs. SNSD is now in government in RS.
Presently, the party is in government.

SNSD became a consultative member of the Socialist International in the end of 2003.
Party leader: Milorad Dodik

Socialist Party of RS (SPRS)
The SPRS has in the past been accused of maintaining ties with Slobodan Milosevic's party, the Socialist Party of Serbia. It claims not to be a successor to any party, although in the past, Milosevic has expressed his support for this party. The original party leadership was made up of officers of the Bosnian Serb army. The SPRS was the main Serb opposition party against the SDS, although the SPRS shared the SDS's opinion that Republika Srpska should become part of Yugoslavia. The party's views changed over the years from radical Serbian nationalism towards a moderate democratic oriented party. For the September 1998 elections the SPRS joined the Sloga coalition (created by SNSD). In February 2000, however, SPRS left Sloga, because Dodik sacked SPRS' Deputy Prime Minister Gligoric.

In 2002 the SPRS split, since the youth of the party formed the DSP (Democratic Socialist Party) and later joined SNSD. On their last congress the SPRS clearly stated that they will never go in coalitions with SDS again. The official name of the party was changed to Just Socialist Party. They also stated that their goal is to create a new image and to involve at least 30% of youth in the party boards and election lists. After these conclusions the leader, Zivko Radisic resigned and left the party. The influence of the party on the political field today is marginal.

The SPRS has no status in the Socialist International.
Party leader: Petar Djokic

Socialdemocratic Union (SDU)
The SDU was formed in December 2002 by former members of the SDP B&H. Dissatisfaction with the policy of the SDP B&H regarding the refusal to form a coalition with the nationalists and losing the fight for support inside the SDP B&H caused their decision to form a new party. They are for Bosnia Herzegovina as one country by forming a government of national unity with other political parties, including nationalists.
The former vicepresident of the SDP B&H and member of parliament, Sead Avdic, was the first president of SDU but he left the SDU four months later and became an independent.

The SDU has no status in the Socialist International.
Party leader: Sejfudin Tokic

OTHER POLITICAL PARTIES

Party of Democratic Action (SDA)
The SDA is the leading Bosniak party. The overall majority of its members are moderate Muslims. The party is in favour of Bosnia-Hercegovina as a decentralised but unitary state with ethnically mixed cantons. It advocates political and economic unity and cultural autonomy for the ethnic groups.

The SDA was founded in 1990 by Alija Izetbegovic, Fikret Abdic, Adil Zulfikarpasic and Omer Behmen. In the first presidential elections in 1990 Fikret Abdic won the majority votes but he stepped down in favor of Izetbegovic. Later Abdic collaborated with the Serbs and formed his own state during the war and now is prosecuted for war crimes. Izetbegovic was the most important political figure of the SDA.

During its existence the party, like Izetbegovic, changed its political course. From a multi-ethnic federalist party, the SDA became an ethnic Muslim party. In 1996 one of the influential leaders in SDA, Haris Silajdzic left SDA and created the Party for B&H, thereby reducing SDA for 1/3. From 1996 till 2000 the Party for B&H was in coalition with the SDA and supported by the Liberal Party.

On 13 October 2001 Izetbegovic stepped down as party leader of the SDA and Sulejman Tihic was elected to lead the party. After that the party moved toward the political center, becoming more open to non-Muslim Bosnians.

In the 2002 elections, the SDA won a majority of seats in state, entity and cantonal parliaments and formed governments with SDS, HDZ, S B&H and PDP. Sulejman Tihic was elected Bosniak member of the B&H presidency. When Alija Izetbegovic died in 2003, his son Bakir was elected as vicepresident of SDA. That move created several fractions in the SDA.
Party leader: Sulejman Tihic

Croat Democratic Union B&H (HDZ)
In some translations this party is called Croatian Democratic Community. HDZ is the nationalist Croat party, founded by the former Croatian president Franjo Tudjman. The Bosnian wing of HDZ is officially independent from the Croatian mother party, but its unofficial ties remain close. During the war, the moderate wing of the party lost from the radical wing, which sought unification of Herceg-Bosna (the Bosnian Croatian republic established by ultra-nationalist Herzegovinian Croats during the war) with Croatia. The HDZ is an extremist party, striving for ethnic autonomy, varying from autonomy within the Federation B&H to a confederate structure with Croatia. This has occasionally led to conflicts with the High Representative. Still, the majority of the Croats in Hercegovina vote for the HDZ.

HDZ split few times first in 2000 when Kresimir Zubak and Croats from northern Bosnia formed the New Croat Initiative. After that several moderates were expelled from the party. When the OHR dismissed the president of HDZ from all political functions, Dragan Covic (Croat member of the Presidency on state level and former minister of Finance of the F B&H) took the leadership of the party. On the last HDZ convention Barisa Colak (Minister for Security) was elected as President of HDZ with Covic's support.

After the elections in 2003 in Croatia, HDZ B&H faced a new split. Due to possibility for B&H Croats to vote for the Croatian Parliament, a part of the membership and local radical branches in Western Herzegovina did not support HDZ B&H candidates but the Croatian Block led by the son of Franjo Tudjman - Miroslav and former Tudjman advisor Ivic Pasalic. The new Croatian Block (HB) in Bosnia was formed and led by Marko Tokic, former Secretary General of HDZ B&H. This was the first time that hardliners left HDZ.
Party leader: Dragan Covic

Croat Democratic Union B&H 1990 (HDZ 1990)

On 8th of April 2006 the new party HDZ 1990 was formed. The party was established by former members of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) who disagree with the policies of the HDZ and its leader Dragan Covic. The president of the party is Bozi Ljubic. As the party's name suggests, the founders were all key figures from the original HDZ in BiH who have since walked out or been expelled. The party strives for a federal Bosnian state in which the Bosnian Croats would have a federal unit.

HDZ 1990 has been formed in April 2006 and is marginal. It is a nationalist party which aims at protecting the natinal interests of Croats in Bosnia.
Party Leader: Bozo Ljubic

Serb Democratic Party (SDS)
Until the September 1998 elections, the SDS was the leading Serb's party in the Republika Srpska. The party's ideological orientation is ultra-nationalist. The party's sole preoccupation with the fate of Republika Srpska, hampers any discussion on other political issues. During and directly after the Bosnian war, all the parties actions and positions seemed to revolve around its political leader, indicted war criminal Radovan Karadzic. His role during the war and political positions on most issues were unpredictable. Karadzic was forced to resign from his positions in the party he helped to found, because in the Dayton Accords it was decided that people indicted by the Tribunal are not allowed to hold public posts, and are not allowed to run in any elections. Initially, neither the SDS nor Karadzic himself were inclined to obey this ruling, but with strong international pressure they did it to secure political life of SDS.
Even in the time of the Alliance for Change, the SDS had a strong position in RS. The president and vice president of RS were from SDS as well as they are now. Mirko Sarovic became the Serb member of the presidency of Bosnia Herzegovina, but he resigned under OHR pressure. His successor was the SDS hardliner Borislav Paravac. In February 2004 the OHR forbid Mirko Sarovic all party functions.
Provisional party leader (at least until May 2007): Mladen Bosic

Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina (S B&H)
The S B&H is a moderate but still soft-nationalist Bosniak party formed in 1996 by Haris Silajdzic, a former high official of the SDA, Ambassador to the UN, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Prime minister. The membership consists for 95% of Bosniaks due to the fact that the party is a split from the SDA. Their vision is a Bosnia Herzegovina without entities, but lacks a plan and program how to do that peacefully. It puts a lot of emphasis on the role of the international community in this process, and ignores the interests of Serbs and Croats. The party program is not specified, but the S B&H declares themselve a centrist party, for liberal market but strong state regulation during transition.
S B&H is practically in power since 1990, first inside the SDA, later in coalition with the SDA, after 2000 in the Alliance for Change with the SDP B&H and again in coalition with the SDA after the last elections. Fractions inside the S B&H, consist of those who are for cooperation with the SDP B&H, those who are closer to SDA and those with the interest of holding political positions no matter what coalition partners.
Party leader: Haris Silajdzic. Party President: Safet Halilovic

Party for Democratic Progres (PDP)
PDP is a moderate Serb nationalist party formed by Mladen Ivanic, a professor of Economy from Banjaluka University, in 2000. In just few months before elections they gathered considerable support and as a result they became the second party after SDS. PDP is a Serb party, which was supported by the international community. Their program aims at securing the position of the Republic Srpska as a strong entity which has to protect the Serb national interests. PDP supports the idea of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but decentralized and strictly according to the Dayton Peace Agreement. Most of PDP's membership are former SDS members and supporters who were not satisfied with the economic reforms carried out by SDS.
PDP became part of the Alliance for Change on state level in 2001. After the elections in October 2002 PDP formed a government on state and RS level with support of SDS, SDA, S B&H and HDZ. Mladen Ivanic is minister of foreign affairs. Former minister for European Integrations - Dragan Mikerevic became prime minister of RS, but Ivanic still has strong influence on him. PDP had a congress in February 2004 supporting Mladen Ivanic as president of PDP after one of the founders of PDP and MP in B&H Parliament Petar Kunic announced leaving the Party.
Party leader: Mladen Ivanic

Serb Radical Party of Republic Srpska (SRS RS)
SRS RS is an ultra-nationalist party supporting the idea of a Greater Serbia which - according to the SRS RS - stretches from Istria to Thessaloniki. Their first goal is the international recognition of Republika Srpska as an independent state, which will allow strengthening ties with Serbia. Under the leadership of Poplasen, the ultra nationalist policy of the SRS has been toned down somewhat, but since the 1998 elections the SRS's isolation was growing. In 1999 the party was suspended by the High Representative, because it was said to promote violence and destabilization of Bosnia. Therefore SRS RS was forbidden to participate in the election process in 2000 but the party preregistrated. SRS RS has strong connections with the Serb Radical Party of Serbia led by indicted war criminal Voislav Seselj.
Party leader: Dragoljub Krnjarac

Serb People's Union Republic Srpska (SNS RS)
The SNS RS was founded by Biljana Plavsic, successor of Radovan Karadzic as President of the Republika Srpska. During the war Plavsic was a hard line nationalist, claiming large parts of Bosnia for the Serbs. After the war, the international community was able to drive a wedge between Plavsic and Karadzic. Under severe pressure of the international community, Plavsic became a 'dove', inclined to cooperate with the West and with the Bosniak and Croat population. The 'doves' formed a minority within the SDS. Plavsic left the SDS and founded the SNS. With the SNS, Plavsic moved towards the political centre. In 1998 the SNS became a member of the Sloga coalition. She became president of Republic Srpska while Dodik was Prime minister and later in 2001 SNS RS supported the Aliance for Change. In January 2001 Plavsic testified for the war crimes tribunal in the Hague. In 2002 most of the members left the party and formed the Democratic People's Alliance (DNS).
Party leader: Branislav Lolic

Democratic People's Alliance (DNS)
The DNS was founded when efforts to democratise SNS failed. The DNS claims that they wish to be a multiethnic people's party although the majority of membership are Serbs who left the SDS in 1997/98. In 2002 DNS practically absorbed SNP - Alliance for People's Renaissance, also a split from SDS.
Party leader: Marko Pavic

People's Democratic Union (DNZ)
The DNZ, formerly known as the National Democratic Union, was founded by Fikret Abdic, a Muslim who sided with the Croats and later with the Serbs, against Izetbegovic in the period that the Croat Bosniak alliance fell apart. The Hague Tribunal has indicted Abdic for committing war crimes during the Bosnian war. The party has influence in few municipalities.
Party leader: Fikret Abdic

New Croat Initiative (NHI)
NHI was formed in 1999 after the first split in the HDZ by moderate politicians of HDZ mostly from Central and Northern Bosnia. The founder is Kresimir Zubak, former president of F B&H and member of the state presidency in the first years after the war. NHI is for a unitary Bosnia and Herzegovina, liberal market economy, return of Croats in the Republic of Srpska where they lived before the war (unlike HDZ who tend to concentrate Croats in Western Herzegovina). NHI supported the Aliance for Change. NHI aims at close cooperation with all reform oriented parties, especially HSS.
Party leader: Kresimir Zubak.

Croatian Block (HB)
After the elections in November 2003 in Croatia (see HDZ) ultra-nationalist hardliners from Western Herzegovina HDZ formed the HB. The HB in Croatia is formed and led by Ivic Pasalic, former advisor of late Croatian President Franjo Tudjman and Miroslav Tudjman, son of Tudjman senior and former Head of State Security. The Bosnian HB is in support of Ivic Pasalic (opponent of Croatian HDZ leader Ivo Sanader - see Croatia update). One of the Bosnian leaders of HB is Marko Tokic, former Secretary General of HDZ B&H.
Party leader: Marko Tokic

Croat Peasants Party (HSS B&H)
Although the HSS has 'Croat' in its name, the HSS is not a nationalist Croat party, but strongly supports the Bosnian-Herzegovinian state. Its backing mainly consists of Croats driven away by the Serbs from central and northern Bosnia. It has les influence in western Herzegovina. The HSS advocates a decentralised administration.The HSS is close to social democratic political thinking, but some top members tend towards a more centrist political view. HSS was a strong supporter of the Aliance for Change that was in power from March 2001 to October 2002.
Party leader: Marko Tadic

People's Party Work for Progress (Radom za Boljitak)
This party is a liberal non nationalistic party consisting mostly of Croats from Western Herzegovina. They support liberal market economy and the fight against corruption, especially when HDZ is involved. The party was founded in 2000 by the Ivankovic family, which is a very wealthy family that owns the industry of meat production "Lijanovici". Founders suffered several attacks on their property as well as economic bans on export of their products, but they stayed in politics. The party has good connections with HSS and NHI. In 2002 the party merged with the Peoples Socialdemocrats from Banjaluka RS led by Ranko Bakic. In the general elections for the Croatian Parliament in November 2003 the party won more than HDZ in some municipalities, traditionally dominated by HDZ.
Party leader: Mladen Ivankovic - Lijanovic

Liberal Democratic Party (LDS)
The LDS was formed in 2002 by the merger of the Liberal Party of B&H (LS B&H) led by Rasim Kadic and the Bosniac Liberal Party led by Muhamed Filipovic. The LS B&H was formed in 1990 by a part of the youth wing of the Socialist Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Later SDP B&H). The LS B&H was in government with the SDA, S B&H and two smaller parties in the period 1998 - 2000. After that the LS B&H supported the Aliance for Change in 2001. Before the last elections the two parties merged because they were close to disappearance from the political scene, but hat did not help: the LDS hardly passed the threshold of 3%.

The LDS is a member of the World Liberal Association.
Party leader: Lamija Tanovic

Bosnian Party (BOSS)
BOSS was formed in 1994 by a former member of the Union of B&H Socialdemocrats - Mirnes Ajanovic. Ajanovic advocates a Bosniak national state and the party’s orientation is radical national socialist. Ajanovic attacks the nationalist government for non-eficiency but his mayor attacks are to SDP B&H as a non-competent and compromising party. Ajanovic’s demagogy is liked by dissatisfied people, especially unemployed, demobilized soldiers and radical students groups. He has a charismatic appearance in public with his "duce" like speeches, in which he accuses everyone for the bad situation in the country without any arguments.
Party leader: Mirnes Ajanovic