site.btaYoung People Largely Did Not Vote in Republika Srpska's Presidential Elections, Citizens Say

The snap presidential election in Bosnia’s Republika Srpska concluded on Sunday evening with low voter turnout – 35.78%, which is 17.2% lower compared to the general elections in 2022, according to official data from the Bosnian Central Election Commission (CEC). Citizens in Banja Luka told BTA on Monday that, in their view, young people largely did not go out to vote because they see no point in doing so.

On Sunday Bosnia's Republika Srpska voted in a snap presidential election, and the preliminary CEC data showed the candidate of the ruling Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), Sinisa Karan, in the lead. With votes counted from 92.79% of polling stations in Republika Srpska, Karan received 200,116 votes, or 50.89%. His opponent from the opposition Serb Democratic Party (SDS), Branko Blanusa, received 188,010 votes, or 47.81%.

Around 440,000 citizens voted on Sunday out of 1.5 million eligible voters in Republika Srpska. By comparison, turnout in Bosnia’s 2022 general elections was around 53%. Local residents told BTA that people did not want these elections, and that young people in the entity see no sense in voting in a snap presidential election when regular general elections will be held in less than a year.

“What will change in 10–11 months? We’ll have to vote again in October anyway, and that will make more sense,” commented Nikola (aged 56).

According to Mladena (aged 29), young people in Republika Srpska are generally not interested in politics.

“Political life, with its constant scandals and propaganda, is not attractive to most young people,” she told BTA. “In fact, only those young people who are somehow connected to a specific party go out to vote. No one votes out of civic responsibility.”

Most older residents of Banja Luka are satisfied with the election results. Djordje (aged 78) argued that only the ruling SNSD can deal with “external attacks”.

“This is how we will deal with the occupiers. And this is how Bosnia and Herzegovina will truly become an independent state,” he said, adding that despite the short mandate that lies ahead for Karan, the election result represents “a victory for patriotism” and “a victory for all of Republika Srpska”.

Bosnian Serbs voted in a snap presidential election in Republika Srpska, which was called after the mandate of former president Milorad Dodik was terminated following a final court ruling sentencing him to one year in prison and banning him from political activity for six years for failing to comply with decisions of the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christian Schmidt.

On Sunday evening Dodik declared Sinisa Karan’s victory before the CEC issued its official preliminary results. He described the low turnout as the result of “a conspiracy between the opposition and the High Representative”. Karan thanked citizens for their support and stressed that “the Serbian people can endure everything”.

Representatives of the opposition SDS said they would demand a repeat vote in three towns – Doboj, Zvornik and Laktasi – as they believe there was “major theft” during the election and that it was “irresponsible to declare Karan’s victory” at this stage.

The SDS candidate, Branko Blanusa, who was Karan’s main opponent, commented that he could have declared victory on Sunday night if “there had been no irregularities in the three towns”.

Under the Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the war in Bosnia (1992–1995), the country is divided into two semi-autonomous entities: Republika Srpska, populated mainly by Bosnian Serbs, and the Muslim-Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks) and Bosnian Croats live. Each entity has its own government, parliament and police, but the two are linked through state-level institutions, including the judiciary, armed forces, security services and tax administration. The Dayton Agreement also sets out the role of the High Representative of the international community, who has broad powers, including the authority to impose laws and dismiss officials.