Bosnia's Dodik Declared Winner In Disputed Election: Officials

Bosnian Serb political leader Milorad Dodik was declared the winner on Thursday of the presidency of Bosnia's Serb entity, election officials announced, following a recount after the opposition cried foul

Sarajevo, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Oct, 2022 ) :Bosnian Serb political leader Milorad Dodik was declared the winner on Thursday of the presidency of Bosnia's Serb entity, election officials announced, following a recount after the opposition cried foul.

The result comes weeks after Bosnians cast ballots in a dizzying range of contests in early October that also included a race for the president of Republika Srpska (RS) -- the country's Serb entity.

Bosnia has been governed by a dysfunctional administrative system created by the 1995 Dayton Agreement that succeeded in ending the conflict in the 1990s, but largely failed in providing a framework for the country's political development.

The recount "confirmed that the candidate Milorad Dodik representing the Serb people and who was in the lead... and remained so with the greatest number of votes won," said Suad Arnautovic, chairman of Bosnia's central election commission.

The final figures for the race were still being compiled, according to officials, who said the opposition still had a narrow window to contest their findings.

A preliminary count following the election gave the victory for the RS presidency to Dodik -- with the Kremlin-friendly leader winning 48 percent of the vote compared to 43 percent for opposition candidate Jelena Trivic.

- Stoking tensions - However, on the day after the election, opposition parties accused Dodik and his party of "organised plundering of the elections" and demanded a recount.

Thursday's announcement comes just days after Dodik rallied thousands of supporters in the RS's capital of Banja Luka, where the long-time leader of the country's Serbs remained defiant that he would be victorious in the race for the presidency.

"I am here tonight to tell you that Milorad Dodik is going nowhere. Milorad Dodik will be in the presidential palace very soon," Dodik told the crowd.

The recount cements Dodik's third term as the president of the RS, after he completed a stint in the tripartite presidency.

For years, Dodik has been stoking tensions with his frequent calls for Bosnia's Serbs to separate even further from the country's central institutions, earning him fresh sanctions from the United States in January.

Running on an anti-corruption ticket, Dodik's rival Trivic -- a 39-year-old professor of economics -- sought to offer an alternative to RS voters, while also trumpeting the Serbs' desire to maintain their autonomy in Bosnia.

October's elections saw the three established ethnic parties secure major wins.

The lone exception was the defeat of Bakir Izetbegovic, a two-time member of the country's tripartite presidency who also leads the main Bosniak party -- the SDA.

Izetbegovic was clobbered by Denis Becirovic in a double-digit landslide win.