A very complicated system of government

1. A directly elected tripartite Presidency, which is in charge of foreign, diplomatic and military affairs,
and the budget of state-level institutions. The three presidency members are from the three constituent
nations - one Bosniak, one Serb, one Croat. Quite controversially, the candidates are “self-defined” as
such and must only claim one identity, so you cannot have someone standing (or voting) for both the
Bosniak and Croat member, or identifying outside these pre-constituted groups - for example, anyone
who considers themselves as simply Bosnian, Roma or Croat and Jewish, is ineligible. Each member is
separately elected by plurality vote (the candidate with most votes, but not necessarily a majority,
wins).

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Members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zeliko Komsic (L), Nebojsa Radmanovic (C), and
Bakir Izetbegovic. Photograph: ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images

2. The Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina encompasses a House of Representatives and a House of
Peoples. The 42 members of the house of representatives are directly elected via a system of
proportional representation. 28 members are elected in the Federation, 14 in the Republika Srpska. The
15 members of the house of peoples are indirectly elected by the entities’ parliaments, with two-thirds
of members from the Federation (five Croats and five Bosniaks) and one-third from the Republika Srpska
(five Serbs).

3. The Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina is nominated by the Presidency
and approved by the House of Representatives - s/he is effectively the Prime Minister, and nominates
ministers. The state government is in charge of security and defence (so enacting through legislation the
decisions of the presidency), customs and immigration, fiscal and monetary policy, and facilitating inter-
entity coordination and regulation.

4. At an entity level, both the Federation and the Republika Srpska have significant autonomy. The
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has a directly-elected 98-member house of representatives. The
Republika Srpska has an 83-member national assembly. Entities’ parliaments have jurisdiction over
healthcare, education, agriculture, culture, veteran issues, labour, police and internal affairs.

5. At both state and entity levels, delegates to the upper houses have the primary duty of ensuring that
there is agreement between constituent nations, and representatives of minorities, when confirming
legislation.

6. Both entities have a Prime Minister and 16 ministries. The Federation is furthermore divided into 10
cantons, each with its own administrative government and relative autonomy on local issues such as
education and health care.

The voting system (for elections taking place on Sunday)

Members of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s parliament are elected through open lists and via proportional
representation.

At a state level, Bosnia and Herzegovina is divided into eight electoral units, three in the Republika
Srpska and five in the Federation.

Each presidency member is separately elected by plurality vote with each voter in the Federation
choosing either a Bosniak or Croat candidate, and those in the Republika Srpska electing a Serb
candidate.

The Central Electoral Commission reports an electorate of 3.2 million voters.

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A man walks past a wall decorated with posters of political parties and candidates for the parliamentary
elections in central Sarajevo September 28, 2010. Photograph: Danilo Krstanovic/Reuters

The main parties

65 parties, 24 independent candidates and 24 coalitions are eligible to run in Sunday’s election.

These are the main parties:

Social Democratic Party SDP - centre-left

Party of Democratic Action SDA - centre-right

Alliance for a Better Future of Bosnia and Herzegovina SBB BiH -centre-right

Croatian, Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina HDZ BiH - centre-right

Croatian Democratic Union 1990 HDZ 1990 - centre-right

Alliance of Independent Social Democrats SNSD - centre-left (though in reality, nationalist)

Serb Democratic Party SDS - right-wing

Party positioning is indicative and to be viewed in the context and framework of the country’s politics.

There are 10 candidates for the post of Bosniak member of the three-member Presidency. Croats will be
choosing between four candidates, while there are three candidates for the Serb seat.