Trisha Shetty (Editor)

Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina

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Popularly Elected

Formation
  
5 October 1996

Inaugural holder
  
Alija Izetbegović

Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Residence
  
Presidency Building, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Term length
  
4 years, renewable once

Website
  
Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the three-member body which collectively serves as head of state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Contents

According to the Article V of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of three members: one Bosniak and one Croat elected from the Federation and one Serb elected from the Republika Srpska. Together, they serve one four-year term.

The member with the most votes becomes the chairperson unless he or she was the incumbent chairman at the time of the election, but the chairmanship rotates every eight months, to ensure equality.

Powers, duties and responsibilities

The Presidency is responsible for:

  • Conducting the foreign policy of Bosnia and Herzegovina;
  • Appointing ambassadors and other international representatives, no more than two thirds of which may come from the Federation;
  • Representing Bosnia and Herzegovina in European and international organizations and institutions and seeking membership in such organizations and institutions of which it is not a member;
  • Negotiating, denouncing, and, with the consent of the Parliamentary Assembly, ratifying treaties of Bosnia and Herzegovina;
  • Executing decisions of the Parliamentary Assembly;
  • Proposing, upon the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, an annual budget to the Parliamentary Assembly;
  • Reporting as requested, but no less than annually, to the Parliamentary Assembly on expenditures by the Presidency;
  • Coordinating as necessary with international and nongovernmental organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and;
  • Performing such other functions as may be necessary to carry out its duties, as may be assigned to it by the Parliamentary Assembly, or as may be agreed by the Entities.

    • Members of Presidency

    More than 95% of population of Bosnia and Herzegovina belongs to one of its three constituent nations: Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats. According to the Constitution, the Presidency consists of three members: one Bosniak and one Croat elected from the Federation and one Serb elected from the Republika Srpska.

    List of Bosniak members

    1. Alija Izetbegović (14 March 1996 – 14 October 2000)
    2. Halid Genjac (14 October 2000 – 30 March 2001)
    3. Beriz Belkić (30 March 2001 – 5 October 2002)
    4. Sulejman Tihić (5 October 2002 – 6 November 2006)
    5. Haris Silajdžić (6 November 2006 – 10 November 2010)
    6. Bakir Izetbegović (10 November 2010 – Incumbent)

    List of Croat members

    1. Krešimir Zubak (14 March 1996 – 15 November 1998)
    2. Ante Jelavić (15 November 1998 – 7 March 2001)
    3. Jozo Križanović (7 March 2001 – 5 October 2002)
    4. Dragan Čović (5 October 2002 – 9 May 2005)
    5. Ivo Miro Jović (9 May 2005 – 6 November 2006)
    6. Željko Komšić (6 November 2006 – 17 November 2014)
    7. Dragan Čović (17 November 2014 – Incumbent)

    List of Serb members

    1. Momčilo Krajišnik (14 March 1996 – 13 October 1998)
    2. Živko Radišić (13 October 1998 – 5 October 2002)
    3. Mirko Šarović (5 October 2002 – 2 April 2003)
    4. Borislav Paravac (2 April 2003 – 6 November 2006)
    5. Nebojša Radmanović (6 November 2006 – 17 November 2014)
    6. Mladen Ivanić (17 November 2014 – Incumbent)

    Presidency of the early Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina

    When the country declared independence in 1992, the Presidency consisted of:

  • two Bosniak members - Alija Izetbegović and Fikret Abdić
  • two Serb members - Biljana Plavšić and Nikola Koljević
  • two Croat members - Stjepan Kljujić and Franjo Boras
  • one other member - Ejup Ganić

    • Over the course of the Bosnian war, the Presidency underwent several changes: the Serb members Plavšić and Koljević, as well as the Croat member Boras, left the Presidency early on and were replaced by Nenad Kecmanović, Mirko Pejanović and Ivo Komšić, respectively. Kecmanović soon also left, and was replaced by Tatjana Ljujić-Mijatović. After a while, Abdić was replaced with Nijaz Duraković.

    Presidency elected in 1996

    Elected members:

  • Alija Izetbegović for the Bosniaks
  • Momčilo Krajišnik for the Serbs
  • Krešimir Zubak for the Croats

    • Presidency elected in 1998

    Elected members:

  • Alija Izetbegović for the Bosniaks, since 5 October 1996 (chairman between 14 February and 14 October 2000)
  • Živko Radišić for the Serbs, since 13 October 1998
  • Ante Jelavić for the Croats, September 1998 to March 2001

    • Živko Radišić with 52% of the Serb vote was elected chairman of the collective presidency for the first 8 months; Ante Jelavić with 52% of the Croat vote followed Radišić in the rotation; Alija Izetbegović with 87% of the Bosniak vote won the highest number of votes in the election but was ineligible to serve a second term until Radišić and Jelavić had each served a first term as Chairman of the Presidency. Ante Jelavić was replaced by Jozo Križanović for the remainder of his term based on a decision issued by Wolfgang Petritsch, High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

    Presidency elected in 2002

    Elected members:

  • Dragan Čović for the Croats
  • Mirko Šarović for the Serbs
  • Sulejman Tihić for the Bosniaks

    • Mirko Šarović with 35.5% of the Serb vote was elected chairman of the collective presidency for the first eight months; Dragan Čović received 61.5% of the Croat vote; Sulejman Tihić received 37% of the Bosniak vote.

    Mirko Šarović resigned in 2003 due to his implication in the scandal regarding the selling of arms to Iraq. The Parliament replaced him with Borislav Paravac.

    Dragan Čović was dismissed by the High Representative Paddy Ashdown, after Čović was indicted for financial corruption; however, the trial hasn't taken place yet. The Parliament replaced him with Ivo Miro Jović.

    Presidency elected in 2006

    Elected members:

  • Željko Komšić for the Croats
  • Nebojša Radmanović for the Serbs
  • Haris Silajdžić for the Bosniaks

    • Presidency elected in 2010

    Elected members:

  • Željko Komšić for the Croats
  • Nebojša Radmanović for the Serbs
  • Bakir Izetbegović for the Bosniaks

    • Presidency elected in 2014

    Elected members:

  • Dragan Čović for the Croats
  • Mladen Ivanić for the Serbs
  • Bakir Izetbegović for the Bosniaks

    • References

    Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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