In Bosnia, candidates of Russia-aligned Dodik have taken the lead

In Bosnia, candidates of Dodik, who is close to Russia, have taken the lead

According to DW, the Central Election Commission announced the preliminary voting results on Sunday evening, October 4. Voters chose members of the country's presidency, deputies of the central and two regional parliaments, as well as the president of the Republika Srpska.

With 95 percent of the ballots counted, Denis Bećirović led the race to represent the Bosnian Muslims — Bosniaks — in the presidency with nearly 38 percent of the vote. He had previously served as the chairman of the presidency.

In the election for the Croat representative, Darijana Filipović was ahead with approximately 48 percent of the vote. As for the Serb representative, the incumbent presidency member Željka Cvijanović gathered nearly 55 percent of the vote.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the function of the head of state is performed by a three-member presidency. In it, Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs have one representative each. This system of government was formed on the basis of the 1995 Dayton Agreements, which put an end to the civil war in the country.

One of the main competitions in the election took place for the presidency of the Republika Srpska, a Serb-majority entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina. In it, the region's Prime Minister Savo Minić and opposition candidate Branko Blanuša competed.

According to preliminary results, Minić surpassed his opponent in most electoral districts. Although Blanuša prevailed in some districts, the Central Election Commission data showed that Minić was ahead overall.

Both Minić and Cvijanović were candidates from the "Alliance of Independent Social Democrats" party founded by Milorad Dodik. This party is also leading in the elections for the People's Assembly — the parliament of the Republika Srpska. In the elections to the lower house of the country's parliament, the majority of Bosnian Serbs also supported this party.

Dodik has already managed to congratulate Minić and Cvijanović on their victory. The publication notes that Dodik was forcibly removed from the presidency in 2025 for failing to comply with the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and international agreements. The court also banned him from engaging in political activity for six years.

Dodik, known for his closeness to Russia, did not recognize the court's decision and went to Moscow seeking support. He, along with Savo Minić, met with Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on September 29.