Voters in Republika Srpska elect new leader

People are casting their votes in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Serb-majority political entity, in a snap presidential election called after electoral authorities stripped separatist Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik of the presidency in August.

Dodik was removed from office for defying Bosnia’s international peace envoy, Christian Schmidt, after his conviction for ignoring rulings by the international appointee, who oversees a peace deal that has held Bosnia together since the end of its 1992-1995 war.

The court also handed him a one-year prison sentence, which he avoided by posting bail, and banned him from participating in politics for six years. Bosnia’s top court upheld that ruling in early November.

The election is seen as a crucial test of support for Dodik’s nationalist party, which has been in power for nearly two decades.

The early vote means the winner will serve less than a year before a general election in October. 

About 1.2 million voters are eligible to choose between six candidates.

The two main favourites to replace Dodik are Sinisa Karan, a 63-year-old former interior minister who is a close ally and Dodik’s personal choice. 

Dodik remains head of his party, the Union of Independent Social Democrats.