General elections were held in

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

on 1 October 2006. They decided the makeup of Bosnia and Herzegovina's

Presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

as well as national, entity, and cantonal governments. The elections for the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

were divided into two; one for the

Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Serbo-Croatian: ''Federacija Bosne i Hercegovine'' / ''Федерација Босне и Херцеговине'') is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities composing Bo ...

and one for

Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, ; also referred to as the Republic of Srpska or Serb Republic) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other bein ...

. In the presidential election, voters in the Federation elected Bosniak

Haris Silajdžić Haris Silajdžić (; born 1 October 1945) is a Bosnian politician and academic who served as the 5th Bosniak member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2006 to 2010. He was the Prime Minister of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegov ...

and Croat

Željko Komšić Željko Komšić (; born 20 January 1964) is a Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Croat politician serving as the List of Croat members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 6th and current Croat member of the Presidency of Bosnia a ...

, while voters in Republika Srpska elected Serb Nebojša Radmanović. The Party of Democratic Action emerged as the largest party in the House of Representatives, winning 9 of the 42 seats.

Background

Analysts claimed that the 2006 election would be the most important since Bosnia and Herzegovina's independence from

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, and the subsequent

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...

. With the previous government failing to agree reforms to the constitution, and Bosnian Muslim politicians continuing to threaten the abolition of

and officials in Republika Srpska continuing to speak of possible secession from the country in response, the election was seen as crucial in determining the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The results were tentatively welcomed by commentators, and described as bringing "small signs of change to a Bosnia where institutional fragmentation has cemented ethnic division", with the result suggesting "a certain retreat of nationalism among the Muslim and Croat communities".Nicholas Walton
A house divided: Bosnia after the elections

openDemocracy openDemocracy is an independent media platform and news website based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2001, openDemocracy states that through reporting and analysis of social and political issues, they seek to "challenge power and encourage d ...

, 3 October 2006, accessed 25 November 2006

Controversy

A controversy emerged over the election of the Croatian member of Presidency. Although

, an ethnic Croat and member of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

, he was alleged by his political opponents to have received votes mainly from Bosniaks. He was accused by his opponents that he was not the choice of Croats, but rather Bosniaks, citing that he did not win majority for Croat representative in any of the

cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, th ...

with Croat majority. This is the result of the fact that in the

, both Bosniak and Croat

members are on one ballot, letting the voter choose to vote in either category regardless of their own ethnicity.

Results

Presidency

One

member was elected from each of the country's three constitutional peoples:

Bosniaks The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...

Croats The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

and

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...

& Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p345

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

According to the

constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Serbo-Croatian: ''Ustav Bosne i Hercegovine'' / ''Устав Босне и Херцеговине'') is the highest legal document of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The current Constitution is the Annex 4 of The ...

, the representatives from the

are allocated 28 seats, while the representatives from

have 14 seats. There are 42 seats in total.

By entity

House of Peoples

The 15 members of the House of Peoples were elected in the entities' Parliaments - 10 members by the House of Representatives of the Federal Parliament (5 Bosniaks and 5 Croats); and 5 members by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska.

Entity Parliaments

On the entity level, the

and

elected new governments.

Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

In the Federation this includes: * Federal Prime Minister * Federal House of Representatives * Federal House of Peoples

House of Representatives of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Republika Srpska

In the Republika Srpska, the government is made up of: *

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

(Serb) and vice-presidents (Croat and Bosniak) of Republika Srpska * Prime Minister of Republika Srpska * National Assembly of Republika Srpska

Canton Parliaments

All 289 mandates in the assemblies of the

Cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina The ten Canton (country subdivision), cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, political entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, are its federal units with a high level of autonomy. The c ...

were up for election; the same parties elected into the Federal Parliament were elected onto cantonal assemblies (''skupština kantona''/скупштина кантона in Bosnian and Serbian, ''sabor županije'' in Croatian). Source
Central Electoral Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina

References

External links

Bosnian Electoral Commission
official site

''

Washington Report on Middle East Affairs The ''Washington Report on Middle East Affairs'' (also known as ''The Washington Report'' and WRMEA) is an American foreign policy magazine that focuses on the Middle East and U.S. policy in the region.Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

General election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

Elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina October 2006 in Europe Election and referendum articles with incomplete results