Dodik claims sweeping victory as Bosnia vote delivers Serb presidency seat to ally Cvijanovic
Milorad Dodik declared victory for his nationalist party in Bosnia's general elections, with ally Zeljka Cvijanovic taking more than 55% for the Serb seat on the tripartite presidency as the Croat and Bosniak races also produced winners.
Bosnian Serb nationalist politician Milorad Dodik has declared victory for his party in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s general elections, after partial results gave his ally a commanding lead for the Serb seat on the country’s tripartite presidency.
With nearly 90% of votes counted, Zeljka Cvijanovic of Dodik’s right-wing Alliance of Independent Social Democrats had more than 55% of the vote for one of the three presidency seats, leading her nearest opponent by around 30 percentage points, the Associated Press reported. Speaking at a news conference late on Sunday, Dodik said his party would also hold a “vast majority” in the Republika Srpska assembly and credited Donald Trump’s 2024 “magnificent victory” and Vladimir Putin’s support for the result.
Dodik, a staunchly pro-Russia figure who did not appear on the ballot, dominated the campaign despite being banned from public office after a conviction last year for defying the international envoy overseeing the 1995 peace agreement. “No one should ask us to change our politics,” he said. “We will not give up, but continue for our people.”
With more than 94% counted, Darijana Filipovic of the Croatian Democratic Union held a commanding lead for the Croat presidency seat, while incumbent Bosniak member Denis Becirovic of the Social Democratic Party led Bakir Izetbegovic by fewer than three percentage points; both declared victory. Turnout was 42%, down about eight points from 2022, with 1,432,269 ballots cast, the Central Election Commission said.
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