Bosnians vote for leaders of fragmented nation

SARAJEVO: Bosnians started voting yesterday for leaders to steer the future of the poor Balkan nation splintered by ethnic divides that fuelled its 1990s war.

The country remains a patchwork of enclaves, with power formally divided among its three main groups: Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks), Serbs and Croats.

While the list of economic woes facing the nation is long, many voters say they have lost faith in a political class accused of stoking fear and nationalism to stay in power.

“I think the nationalists will win once again and nothing will change,” said Armin Bukaric, a 45year-old businessman in Sarajevo, echoing a view common on the capital's streets.

The Balkan country's complex political system is a relic of the 199295 conflict that saw Muslims, Serbs and Croats turn on each other.

The fighting left 100,000 dead, displaced millions and wrecked the country's economy and infrastructure.

A quarter of a century later, Bosnia is still governed by the peace accord that stopped the war and sliced the country into two semi-autonomous halves —one dominated by Serbs and the other home to Muslims and a Croat minority.

The regions are bound by a weak national government, led by a tripartite presidency that rotates between a Serb, Croat and Muslim member. One leading candidate for the Serb seat, Milorad Dodik, is a pro-Russian nationalist who regularly dangles holding a vote on the secession of the country's Serb-dominated half.

Dodik has led the Serb-run entity Republika Srpska since 2006 and rarely sets foot in Bosnia's capital Sarajevo, which he terms a hostile ‘foreign territory'.

Victory on Sunday would keep Dodik, who has been sanctioned by the US for threatening the country's integrity, at the fore of Bosnian politics.

It could also see him in a partnership with Croat incumbent Dragan Covic, who similarly advocates drawing deeper communal divisions.