The early presidential elections in Republika Srpska will be held on November 23, amid a prolonged political crisis caused by the removal of former head of state Milorad Dodik. The Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina called the elections after the court of Bosnia and Herzegovina finally confirmed Dodik's conviction and rejected his appeals.
According to the commission, more than 1.26 million people are included in the central voter list, of which 20,500 are eligible to vote abroad. Polling stations will open at 7:00 a.m. and close at 7:00 p.m. local time. Polling stations will be open at the diplomatic missions of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Belgrade, Berlin, Vienna and the Consulate General in Munich. A total of 2,211 polling stations have been set up.
Six candidates are running for president of Republika Srpska. The ruling Alliance of Independent Social Democrats has nominated Minister of Science and Technological Development and former Minister of Interior Sinisa Karan. The main opposition candidate is Branko Blanusa of the Serbian Democratic Party. The list also includes Dragan Djokanovic of the Alliance for New Politics, Nikola Lazarević of the Ecological Party of Republika Srpska, and two independent candidates, Igor Gašević and Slavko Dragičević. The winner will serve as acting president until regular elections in October 2026.
The president is elected by a relative majority and has broad powers: he proposes to the parliament the candidacies of the Prime Minister and members of the Constitutional Court and exercises the right of pardon.
The early elections are the result of a long-standing political conflict between Milorad Dodik and the central authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the institution of the High Representative. Dodik is a former Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, President of the Republic and member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
After he was sentenced to one year in prison and a six-year ban on political activity in February 2025, the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina terminated his presidential mandate. The Parliament of Republika Srpska initially challenged this decision, but then appointed Dodik's advisor, Ana Trišić-Babić, as acting president. In September, Dodik abandoned his boycott of the elections.
According to the constitution proposed in the General Framework Agreement for Peace (Dayton Agreement), Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of two entities: the Muslim-Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (approximately 51% of the territory) and the Republika Srpska (approximately 49%), as well as the Brcko District. The three main ethnic groups are proportionally represented in the system of government: Bosniaks (Slavs who converted to Islam), Serbs (Orthodox Christians), and Croats (Catholics).
The country is essentially governed by a High Representative of the international community (a position created in accordance with the Dayton Agreement), appointed by the Steering Committee of the Peace Implementation Council after approval by the UN Security Council. However, in May 2021, the ambassadors of the countries on the commission decided to appoint Christian Schmidt (Germany) as the new High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina without the UN Security Council approval process. The leadership of Republika Srpska, Russia and China do not recognize his legitimacy.