The politics of Bosnia and Herzegovina are defined by a parliamentary, representative democratic framework, where the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, named by the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Legislative power is vested in both the Council of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Members of the Parliamentary Assembly are chosen according to a proportional representation system. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
The system of government established by the Dayton Agreement that ended the Bosnian war in 1995 is an example of consociationalism, as representation is by elites who represent the country's three major ethnic groups termed constituent peoples, with each having a guaranteed share of power.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is divided into two Entities – the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska, which are politically autonomous to an extent, as well as the Brčko District, which is jointly administered by both. The Entities have their own constitutions.
Dayton Agreement
After the signing of the Dayton Agreement on 14 December 1995, Bosnia and Herzegovina formed an undeclared protectorate, where highest power was given to the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, named by the Peace Implementation Council. The intention of the Agreement was to retain Bosnia's exterior border, while creating a joint multi-ethnic and democratic government based on proportional representation, and charged with conducting foreign, economic, and fiscal policy.
The Dayton Agreement established the Office of the High Representative (OHR) to oversee the implementation of the civilian aspects of the agreement.
High Representative
The highest political authority in the country is the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, the chief executive officer for the international civilian presence in the country. The High Representative has power to remove government officials, including court justices, local government members and members of parliament through the Bonn Powers which were introduced in 1997.
The mandate of the High Representatives derives from the Dayton Agreement, as confirmed by the Peace Implementation Council (PIC), a body with a Steering Board composed of representatives of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, the presidency of the European Union, the European Commission, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The Peace Implementation Council has established several criteria for the OHR to be closed, two of which have been completed but must be sustained until all five are completed.
Due to the vast powers of the High Representative over Bosnian politics and essential veto powers, the position has also been compared to that of a viceroy.
Executive branch
The Chair of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina rotates amongst three members (a Bosniak, a Serb, and a Croat) every 8 months within their 4-year term. The three members of the Presidency are elected directly by the people, with Federation voters electing both the Bosniak and the Croat member, and Republika Srpska voters electing the Serb member. The Presidency serves as a collective head of state. The Presidency is mainly responsible for the foreign policy and proposing the budget.
The Prime Minister, formally titled Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is nominated by the Presidency and approved by the House of Representatives. They appoint the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Foreign Trade and other ministers as may be appropriate (no more than two thirds of the ministers may be appointed from the territory of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina), who assume the office upon the approval by the House of Representatives; also, the chair appoints deputy ministers (who may not be from the same constituent people as their ministers), who assume the office upon the approval by the House of Representatives.
The Council is responsible for carrying out policies and decisions in the fields of diplomacy, economy, inter-entity relations and other matters as agreed by the entities.
The two Entities have Governments that deal with internal matters not dealt with by the Council of Ministers.
Legislative branch The Parliamentary Assembly or Parliamentarna skupština is the main legislative body in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It consists of two chambers:
the House of Peoples or Dom naroda the House of Representatives or Predstavnički dom/Zastupnički dom
The Parliamentary Assembly is responsible for: enacting legislation as necessary to implement decisions of the Presidency or to carry out the responsibilities of the Assembly under the Constitution. deciding upon the sources and amounts of revenues for the operations of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and international obligations of Bosnia and Herzegovina. approving the budget for the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina. deciding ratify treaties and agreements. other matters as are necessary to carry out its duties of as are assigned to it by mutual agreement of the Entities.
Bosnia and Herzegovina did not have a permanent election law until 2001, during which time a draft law specified four-year terms for the state and first-order administrative division entity legislatures. The final election law was passed and publicized in 2001 and amended in 2002.
House of Peoples The House of Peoples includes 15 delegates who serve two-year terms. Two-thirds of delegates come from the Federation (5 Croats and 5 Bosniaks) and one-third from the Republika Srpska (5 Serbs). Nine constitutes a quorum in the House of Peoples, provided that at least three delegates from each group are present. Federation representatives are selected by the House of Peoples of the Federation, which has 58 seats (17 Bosniaks, 17 Croats, 17 Serbs, 7 others), and whose members are delegated by cantonal assemblies to serve four-year terms. Republika Srpska representatives are selected by the 28-member Republika Srpska Council of Peoples, which was established in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska; each constituent people has eight delegates, while four delegates are representatives of "others".
House of Representatives The House of Representatives comprises 42 members elected under a system of proportional representation (PR) for a four-year term. Two thirds of the members are elected from the Federation (14 Croats; 14 Bosniaks) and one third from the Republika Srpska (14 Serbs).
For the 2010 general election, voters in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina elected twenty-one members in five multi-member constituencies by PR, while the remaining seven seats were allocated by compensatory PR. Voters in the Republika Srpska elected nine members in three multi-member constituencies by PR, while the five other seats were allocated by compensatory PR.Bosnia and Herzegovina General Elections 3 October 2010, OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission Final Report, 17 December 2010, accessed 3 October 2012 (pdf file).
Political parties and elections
CandidatePartyVotes%Bosniak memberŠefik DžaferovićParty of Democratic Action212,58136.61Denis BećirovićSocial Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina194,68833.53Fahrudin RadončićUnion for a Better Future of BiH75,21012.95Mirsad HadžikadićIndependent58,55510.09Senad ŠepićIndependent Bloc29,9225.15Amer JerlagićParty for Bosnia and Herzegovina9,6551.66Croat memberŽeljko KomšićDemocratic Front225,50052.64Dragan ČovićCroatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina154,81936.14Diana ZelenikaCroatian Democratic Union 199025,8906.04Boriša FalatarOur Party16,0363.74Jerko Ivanković LijanovićPeople's Party Work for Prosperity6,0991.42Serb memberMilorad DodikAlliance of Independent Social Democrats368,21053.88Mladen IvanićSerb Democratic Party292,06542.74Mirjana PopovićFair Policy Party12,7311.86Gojko KličkovićFair Policy Party10,3551.52Invalid/blank votes120,259–Total1,812,575100Registered voters/turnout Source: CEC
House of Representatives PartyFederationRepublika SrpskaTotalVotes%SeatsVotes%SeatsVotes%Seats+/–Party of Democratic Action252,08125.48829,6734.451281,75417.019–1Alliance of Independent Social Democrats4,6630.470260,93039.106265,59316.0360SDS–NDP–NS–SRS–––162,41424.343162,4149.803–2Social Democratic Party140,78114.2359.6721.450150,4539.085+2HDZ BiH–HSS–HSP-HNS–HKDU–HSP-AS BiH–HDU BiH145,48714.7154.3850.660149,8729.055+1Democratic Front–Civic Alliance96,1809.723–––96,1805.813–1Social Democratic Party92,9069.45315,7362.43–108,6426.663–5PDP–NDP1940.02050,3387.76150,5323.1010Croatian Democratic Union 199040,1134.081–––40,1132.461–Bosnian-Herzegovinian Patriotic Party-Sefer Halilović35,8663.6512,4520.38038,3182.351+1Democratic People's Alliance–––37,0725.72137,0722.2710Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina25,6772.610–––25,6771.570–2Party of Democratic Activity22,0882.251–––22,0881.351NewSocialist Party–––18,7322.89018,7321.1500SPP–SDU–DNZ12,8851.3103,4290.53016,3141.000–1People's Party for Work and Betterment12,9271.310–––12,9270.790–1Serbian Progressive Party–––11,4211.76011,4210.7000Our Party10,9131.110–––10,9130.6700Party of Justice and Trust–––9,7631.5109,7630.600NewBosnian Party7,5180.760–––7,5180.4600Social Democratic Union5,8810.608530.1306,7340.4100Labour Party5,7310.580–––5,7310.350NewHSP–DSI5,4750.560–––5,4750.340–Communist Party3,0750.3101,9760.3005,0510.310NewHKDU4,7180.480–––4,7180.290NewDiaspora Party3,3710.340–––3,3710.210NewNew Movement1,8300.190–––1,8300.110NewTomo Vukić–––3970.0603970.020NewInvalid/blank votes97,720––58,857––156,577–––Total1,081,02510028701,156100141,782,18110042–Registered voters/turnout – – ––Source: CEC
Election history National House of Representatives: elections held 12–13 September 1998: seats by party/coalition – KCD 17, HDZ-BiH 6, SDP-BiH 6, Sloga 4, SDS 4, SRS-RS 2, DNZ 1, NHI 1, RSRS 1 elections held 5 October 2002: percent of vote by party/coalition - SDA 21.9%, SDS 14.0%, SBiH 10.5%, SDP 10.4%, SNSD 9.8%, HDZ 9.5%, PDP 4.6%, others 19.3% seats by party/coalition – SDA 10, SDS 5, SBiH 6, SDP 4, SNSD 3, HDZ 5, PDP 2, others 7
House of Peoples: constituted 4 December 1998 constituted in fall 2000 constituted in January 2003 next to be constituted in 2007
Federal House of Representatives: elections held fall 1998: seats by party/coalition – KCD 68, HDZ-BiH 28, SDP-BiH 25, NHI 4, DNZ 3, DSP 2, BPS 2, HSP 2, SPRS 2, BSP 1, KC 1, BOSS 1, HSS 1 elections held 5 October 2002: seats by party/coalition – SDA 32, HDZ-BiH 16, SDP 15, SBiH 15, other 20
Federal House of Peoples: constituted November 1998 constituted December 2002
Republika Srpska National Assembly: elections held fall 1998 seats by party/coalition – SDS 19, KCD 15, SNS 12, SRS-RS 11, SPRS 10, SNSD 6, RSRS 3, SKRS 2, SDP 2, KKO 1, HDZ-BiH 1, NHI 1 elections held fall 2000 elections held 5 October 2002 seats by party/coalition – SDS 26, SNSD 19, PDP 9, SDA 6, SRS 4, SPRS 3, DNZ 3, SBiH 4, SDP 3, others 6
Judicial branch Constitutional Court
The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the supreme, final arbiter of constitutional matters. The court is composed of nine members: four selected by the House of Representatives of the Federation, two by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, and three are foreign citizens appointed by the President of the European Court of Human Rights after courtesy-consultation with the Presidency.