Bosnia and Herzegovina (SBiH) - Politics
Bosnia and Herzegovina (SBiH) is the most troubled in the Western Balkans. The Dayton constitution does not affirm citizenship but rather membership in one of the three major ethnic groups, and on the other hand, it commits to international human rights standards and non-discrimination.
The power-sharing mechanisms built into the constitution put in place a system in which all decisions and important positions have to be decided and allocated equally between the three constituent peoples. Since people are forced to identify themselves with one of the three ethnic groups in order to be politically represented, political parties in BH cultivate popular support solely on ethnic sentiments. By permanent reproduction of ethnic confrontation and political discourse about "them" and "us" political elites deliberately and efficiently channel dissatisfaction of citizens toward other ethnic groups. They purposefully make ethnicity the main political cleavage in the country while almost completely blurring social reality.
The lines dividing politics, ethnic identity, and religion are often blurred. Political parties dominated by a single ethnic group remain powerful and continue to identify closely with the religion associated with their predominant ethnic group. Many political party leaders used religion to strengthen their credibility with voters. Religious leaders exerted influence in government policy and programs, sometimes to the detriment of nonbelievers or adherents of another religion.
Political parties generally operate without restriction or outside influence. Individuals and parties representing a wide spectrum of political views could freely declare their candidacies and run for election. The law provides that Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks, and "others" must be adequately represented in entity, cantonal, and municipal government institutions, based on the 1991 census until the returns process (as described in Annex VII of the Dayton Accords) is completed. However, this law was not respected in practice. Separate from the three constituent peoples, there were 16 recognized national minority groups.
Around half of BH citizens are eager to "collaborate" with political elites either out of conviction or for thepersonal gain. For others, the consistent pressure and reduction of politicas to ethnic issues make political participation pointless. Nationalist rhetoric from leaders of all ethnic groups dominated political exchanges. In particular, Serb politicians regularly called into question the validity and existence of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and threatened to call a referendum in the Republika Srpska to secede from the state.
The tripartite presidency consisted of Bosnian Croat Zeljko Komsic, Bosnian Serb Nebojsa Radmanovic, and Bosniak Haris Silajdzic.
In October 2008, Bosnia and Herzegovina held municipal elections where mayors and members of municipal and cantonal assemblies were directly elected (in all municipalities except Mostar and Brcko District).
BiH citizens are generally passive and believe that the state and Entity-level political process is non-responsive to their needs. In the run up to the 2010 general elections, public surveys underscored that the populace‘s major concerns were unemployment, the economic recession, and corruption. However, major political parties and politicians rarely, if at all, based their platforms on these issues; instead, they largely continued ethno-nationalistic-based campaigning. The prospect of possible future EU accession offers potential impetus for real political and economic reform and a national vision. But, this requires difficult reforms in governance, basic issues of human rights, and inclusion of minorities in the political process.
The complex, ethnic-based, multi-layered governance structure and widespread citizen apathy has enabled non-responsive political leaders to avoid addressing BiH‘s problems. Reforming the governance structure requires constitutional reform and changes to the current political process that operates through narrow interests and influence. Politicians have little motivation for reform unless citizens raise expectations for governance and demand responsiveness to BiH‘s socio-economic challenges. Citizens are concerned with issues that have potential for political change such as: representation based on issues rather than ethnicities; respect for minorities and human rights; prosecution and conviction of significant corruption cases; merit-based rather than political affiliation-based opportunities; greater government efficiency; and a clear plan to achieve EU accession.
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