Voters in Bosnia and Herzegovina cast ballots Sunday for the tripartite presidency, the national parliament and entity legislatures, in a contest Reuters said could affect EU accession talks.
Bosnians voted on Sunday for the country's three-member presidency and national parliament, along with regional races in the Federation and Republika Srpska, Reuters reported from Sarajevo and Banja Luka. Preliminary results were expected from the Central Election Commission after polls closed at 7 p.m. local time.
Reuters said voter frustration has grown over an economic slowdown, slow EU entry talks and a political crisis in which dominant ethnic parties have repeatedly stalled decisions by the weak central government created under the 1995 Dayton accord.
Tracking platform Poliwave figures cited by Reuters put the SDA narrowly ahead nationally at 21.4 percent, with the SDP on 16.7 percent. In Republika Srpska, SNSD, the party associated with Milorad Dodik, led with 34.2 percent in that same snapshot.
AFP reported that polls had closed and votes were being tallied, and that partial turnout about four hours before the close was nearly 27 percent, about eight points below the same point in the previous election. Technical issues led authorities to extend voting at some stations, AFP said.
Researcher Adnan Cerimagic of the European Stability Initiative told AFP it was not impossible for opposition candidate Branko Blanusa to beat Dodik-backed Savo Minic in the Republika Srpska presidency race. Full official results were not in the reports used here.
People Sentiments Mixed
- AFP said some voters were frustrated that major parties focused on war-era ethnic rhetoric instead of the economy.