General elections were held in

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...

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 by ...

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 entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

were divided into two; one for the

Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the two entities within the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Republika Srpska. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of 10 autonomous cantons with their own gover ...

and one for

Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Feder ...

. 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 3rd Prime Minister of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzeg ...

and Croat

Željko Komšić Željko Komšić (; born 20 January 1964) is a Bosnian politician and diplomat who is the 6th and current Croat member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is also its current chairman, since 2021. Previously, he was a member of the ...

, while voters in Republika Srpska elected Serb

Nebojša Radmanović Nebojša Radmanović ( sr-Cyrl, Небојша Радмановић, ; born 1 October 1949) is a Bosnian Serb politician who served as the 5th Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2006 to 2014. He is currently a member o ...

. The

Party of Democratic Action The Party of Democratic Action ( bs, Stranka demokratske akcije; abbr. SDA) is a Bosniak nationalism, Bosniak nationalist, conservative political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. History The Party of Democratic Action (SDA) was founded on 26 M ...

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 Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

, and the subsequent

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

. 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 de ...

, 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 Fo ...

, 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 ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, ...

Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, ...

and

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their ...

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 entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

According to the

constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian: ''Ustav Bosne i Hercegovine'' / Устав Босне и Херцеговине) is the highest legal document of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The current Constitution is the An ...

, 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 The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-ge ...

(5 Bosniaks and 5 Croats); and 5 members by the

National Assembly of Republika Srpska The National Assembly of Republika Srpska (, abbr. НСРС/NSRS) is the legislative body of Republika Srpska, one of two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The current assembly is the ninth since the founding of the entity. History The Nation ...

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: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

(Serb) and

vice-presidents A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

(Croat and Bosniak) of Republika Srpska *

Prime Minister of Republika Srpska This article lists the prime ministers of Republika Srpska, the head of the Government of Republika Srpska. The prime minister is nominated by the President of Republika Srpska, and appointed by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska. Radov ...

Canton Parliaments

All 289 mandates in the assemblies of the

Cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina The ten cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of the two political entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, are its federal units with a high level of autonomy. The cantons were established by the Law on Federal Units (Cantons) on ...

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 Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also * * * Old Serbian (disambigua ...

, ''sabor županije'' in

Croatian Croatian may refer to: * Croatia *Croatian language *Croatian people *Croatians (demonym) See also * * * Croatan (disambiguation) * Croatia (disambiguation) * Croatoan (disambiguation) * Hrvatski (disambiguation) * Hrvatsko (disambiguation) * S ...

). 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) magazine, published eight times per year, focuses on "news and analysis from and about the Middle East and U.S. policy in that region".

'', December 2006 {{Bosnian elections

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

General election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

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