European Forum

Dodik's SNSD loses local poll in Bosnia

The main Bosnian Serb party, the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) was defeated yesterday (24 January) by a coalition of three opposition parties in early mayoral elections for the southeastern town of Bileca Bosnia's Serb dominated part Repubika Srpska. The Bosnian electoral commission announced this after nearly all votes had been counted.

The candidate representing three Bosnian Serb opposition parties Dragan Babic won 55 per cent of the votes, which is 10 per cent more than Blazo Vujovic. Vujovic was strongly supported by Bosnian Serb Prime Minister and SNSD president, Milorad Dodik.

The elections for the mayor of Bileca, one of the poorest towns in Repubika Srpska, had been called following the sudden death of the previous mayor Slavko Bekan in November last year. Bekan was a member of SNSD.

Dodik’s power put to the test
Despite a relatively small number or some 10,000 eligible voters, Bosnian media have repeatedly described the vote for the major of Bileca as the first real test of Dodik's strength ahead of general elections in the country scheduled for October. Members of the coalition “Together for Bileca'', represented by the Serb Democratic Party (SDS), Serb Radical Party (SRP), and Party of Democratic Progress (PDP) previously hinted that they were considering to also run together in general elections.

Prior to yesterday’s vote, most top SNSD officials, including Milorad Dodik, visited Bileca to show their strong backing for the party’s candidate. During his address to media in Bileca in December, Dodik said that the Bosnian Serb government would stop its cooperation with the poor southeastern town if the opposition candidate wins the mayoral elections.

Still support for Dodik, yet in decline
According to Tanja Topic -political analyst connected to the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) in Bosnia and Herzegovina- there is still strong support for the populist Dodik. However, the popularity of his policies is decreasing. Considering the fact that 50% of the population entitled to vote did not vote in previous elections, Dodik’s popularity is around 20 -25%, according to Topic.

Sources: Balkan Insight; Slobodna Evropa