Losses for communalists in Bosnia

Submitted by AWL on 17 November, 2020 - 2:38 Author: John Cunningham
Bosnian protest, 2014

Municipal elections in Bosnia-Hercegovina, delayed because of Covid-19, took place on 14-15 November, and the earliest indications are that the parties based on ethnic groupings have fared badly amongst voter concerns over widespread corruption and what is seen by many as a disastrous response to the epidemic.

In Sarajevo, the SDA (Party of Democratic Action, the party claiming to represent Bosnian Muslims) lost out in three of four voting districts and in Banja Luka, opposition parties made important gains. The HDZBiH (Croat Democratic Union of Bosnia-Hercegovina, the party claiming to represent Croats) has also fared badly.

All the results are not yet in (elections in the important city of Mostar are scheduled for 20 December) and given the complex nature of the electoral system in Bosnia-Hercegovina a detailed analysis is not yet possible. Whether or not the success of the opposition parties, who formed a loose coalition, can be transformed into something more permanent remains to be seen.

At the moment what appears to hold them together is a, fully understandable, loathing of the main ethnic parties but not much else. In December, Solidarity will carry an analysis of the situation in Bosnia-Hercegovina on the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords and that will include some further analysis of these important elections.

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